The Ultimate Rebirth
by LuvversLuvvie
Summary: Sequel of The Ultimate Weapon Two months after waking up, Naruto struggles to return to his ordinary life. Meanwhile, the condemned elders help Danzo's pursuit of Hokage by controlling the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki once more.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the Naruto Universe**

**Summary: Sequel of The Ultimate Weapon ~ Two months after waking up, Naruto struggles to return to his ordinary life. Meanwhile, the condemned elders help Danzo's pursuit of Hokage by controlling the Jinchuuriki once more.**

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Two months.

It had been two months.

Two months since Sasuke had returned to the village.

Because of his key involvement in revealing that his Naruto was being controlled by that fucking bastard and those fucking '_elders_' and in bringing him back to the people of the village as well as his proof that Itachi had been innocent and his killing Orochimaru, it was decided by the new council—much aided by Tsunade—that Sasuke would be able to not only return as a citizen of Konoha but be allowed to reapply as a ninja.

Granted, he would be on probation for two and a half years—six months for every year Sasuke was gone—but Sasuke was not complaining in the least as it was more than he could ever expect when musing about returning during his absence.

Two months since that fucking bastard _Sai_ and those fucking bastards were arrested.

Unfortunately, all that had happened to those FUCKING BASTARDS was that they were all demoted, suspended for an indefinite period of time, would be put on probation for an indefinite period of time when they returned to active duty, and would stay in jail separated from one another for an indefinite period of time.

It aggravated Sasuke and those who knew exactly what those fucking bastards did to no end that they were not hanged for their sins, but they would tell no others the reason for their enragement.

Honoring Naruto's dignity, they did not say the nature of the abuse done to Naruto while he was controlled; only that it was that fucking bastard who had used the mind control jutsu that had since been decreed forbidden and that the rest of the fucking team not only knew this but mistreated Naruto knowing full well that he did not consciously know what was happening around him.

The new council had been rightfully angered by this and had set the punishment rather quickly, believing the mistreatment to be occasionally beating Naruto because he was the Kyuubi jinchuuriki. Tsunade had wanted them all to be stripped of their ranks and discharged from being ninja, but the council had out voted her, reasoning that they were talented ninja that would still be useful if not needed in the field.

Two months since the elders were dismissed from the council.

Because this entire ordeal was caused by those two pompous, narcissistic son of a bitch and downright bitch to the core, Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane were officially dismissed from their positions as heads of the council. Along with their positions, they were formally relieved of their status as high elders as well as any perks or privileges the two had enjoyed for so many years.

Instead of being properly and publically arrested, Tsunade had chosen—backed up by the new council who had agreed with her—to place the two under house arrest while being banished to a remote cottage in an isolated area on top of the Hokage Monument.

Tsunade had chosen this knowing full well that the two had openly mocked how archaic the Sand Village was for using such a method with their own high elders who had retired, and how the two had reveled in the narcissistic notion that they were superior to the Sand because they had demented themselves into believing in their utter superiority since they had not retired and still played an 'active role' in Konoha's affairs via meddling and controlling others, namely Naruto.

Forcefully banishing and isolating them like the Sand elders had chosen to do was the perfect punishment for them, Tsunade believed.

Of course, their banishment was not publicly done, yet the whole village knew of it. Tsunade had allowed word to spread that the '_elders_' were the ones responsible for taking Konoha's beloved Number One Most Unpredictable Ninja and hero away from its citizens so any support that the two pompous bitches could hope for left faster than the fabled Yellow Flash as soon as word had gotten out.

There were also rumors surrounding Naruto's now imprisoned team where it was said that they had allowed Naruto to get critically injured during their last mission and Sasuke had saved Naruto while the team had fled, leaving Naruto behind while scorning him for being the Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki. So that was why they were arrested, Sasuke was back, and Naruto was in the hospital.

Two months since Naruto had awoken from his controlled state of mind.

The day after Naruto Uzumaki had been awoken from his controlled state of mind, he had been transferred to a private room in the long-term residence area of the hospital.

Like his first day in the hospital room the first day he had awoken, the only people allowed to visit his room were the members of team 7, Tsunade, and Shizune. He had stayed there in near isolation for an entire month, not because of any injuries or by choice, but because of the repercussions of being controlled for so long.

Because of the extended period of time he had been subjected to that damn mind controlling jutsu without any break, his mind was simply not used to being conscious for longer than a few hours anymore so he spent many hours of the day sleeping or in a complete daze as his mind got used to being conscious again.

Simultaneously, Naruto's brain had been bombarding his now conscious mind with the memories of what he had been forced to do on his missions while being controlled. Because of the sheer amount of memories during those two years and the amount of pain associated with each of them, Tsunade had thankfully prescribed Naruto memory suppressant pills.

Thanks to the pills, Naruto was—mostly—able to deal with new memories during his daily therapy sessions. Some days were worse than others as the pills unfortunately could not completely slow down the pace of the stream of memories. Still, they were the best solution on hand as many people were weary of allowing people direct access to Naruto's brain; even trusted comrades for recovery reasons.

Besides, the only side-affect that slightly bothered Naruto was the extra drowsiness it caused.

Mental recovery from the extended period of being controlled was not the only reason Naruto was staying in the hospital, though. Naruto's mind _and_ body still physically reacted to assumed danger whenever a person comes too close to him.

It had taken near constant strain and pushing himself, but Naruto had managed to reduce his automatically tensing and switching to his 'attack' mode from ten meters to only a single meter and that was only sparingly with the members of team 7 and Tsunade, who could actually touch him briefly given enough warning and time; though he still tensed and almost or sometimes switch whenever Shizune or anyone else comes near him.

Tsunade, Shizune, Sakura, and Kakashi had all tried to convince him of how truly amazing his recovery rate was considering that two months ago he would automatically try to attack anyone that came within ten meters of him, but he would have none of it.

Naruto was determined to return to his normal life and was convinced that he was unable to recover faster was because he was weak, an idea self-reinforced by the idea that his weakness was the reason for being controlled in the first place.

Respecting Naruto's desire to return to a normal life as soon as he possibly could, Tsunade had allowed Naruto to be discharged from the hospital as long as he returned every day for his therapy for his memories as well as his physical therapy for reducing his meter radius. He would also have to agree to rest while at home and to not try to push himself too much.

Naruto had agreed to the conditions immediately, eager to leave the hospital as always. However, he was devastated to learn that his apartment had been sold more than a year ago during his time being controlled.

Anticipating this, Sasuke had the perfect solution he had worked out with Tsunade as soon as Naruto had started showing signs of wanting to leave the hospital. He had gotten permission from the Hokage to break into that fucking bastard's apartment—after already doing so—and taking everything of Naruto's that had been wrongfully moved there.

He also indulged himself in drawing the Uchiha crest on every painting inside the apartment.

After taking everything of Naruto's from the fucking bastard's apartment, Sasuke had quickly moved everything—rightfully—into the his house near the old Uchiha District that he had been given charge of again upon his return to citizenship.

Naruto had no furniture as those were all taken care of by that fucking bastard and now Sasuke, so all of Naruto's belongings were of the personal kind and was no trouble at all in moving into Sasuke's mansion.

Naruto was completely flustered when he had learned that he would be moving in with Sasuke as soon as he would be discharged from the hospital. He had demanded to know why, insisting that he could find a new apartment and did not need any help.

His efforts were in vain as Tsunade had already agreed with Sasuke that Naruto would live with the Uchiha.

Sasuke had convinced her because out of everybody, he was the only one who could safely approach Naruto without the blonde tensing, and that he was the only one who could calm Naruto from a painful memory or self-berating without fail.

She had told Naruto to suck it up because her decision was final and explained that with his mind still recovering he needed someone to watch over him.

Naruto had insisted that he did not need a babysitter but Tsunade had told him that it was either he move in with Sasuke or he stay in the hospital because she absolutely would not leave him alone.

Naruto finally caved after she had told him that her greatest fear was that something would happen to Naruto so soon after coming back to them and there was no one nearby to help.

After Tsunade had left Sasuke and Naruto alone, Naruto had immediately called Sasuke a bastard and accused him of manipulating Granny Tsunade, to which Sasuke had smirked and asked if Naruto was not happy with his new living arrangements.

Naruto had huffed, replying that he was NOT happy and that he could take care of himself.

Sasuke's smirk widened as he sat next to Naruto, placed his arm around the blonde's shoulders, and had told him that _he_ was happy because now he got to live with the one he loved.

Naruto had shown Gaara's flaming hair shame with the ferocity of his blush and pushed Sasuke off the bed, stuttering that Granny Tsunade was the only reason Naruto was agreeing to the living arrangements.

Then, Naruto had declared loudly that the two would be sleeping in different rooms.

Sasuke had hidden his inner disappointment, having already moved all of Naruto's personal belongings into the master bedroom with his own things.

Naruto had then mumbled—while stuttering on Hinata's level—that even though he was thrilled to hear that Sasuke loved him and acknowledged that he loved Sasuke too, Naruto was still trying to come to terms with the fact that he had been controlled for over two years and did not know about being boyfriends so soon.

Sasuke had given his stuttering, blushing, nervous, and adorably embarrassed love a gentle smile reserved only for him and assured him that he would wait for as long as Naruto needed, understanding that mentally, Naruto was still sixteen years old and was still trying to process waking up to learn not only had he been forced to do many, many unpleasant and inhuman things while controlled, but that he had woken up to two years in the future where Sasuke not only returned him to the village but is in love with him.

He was mentally cursing himself for making such a promise since he had waited long enough and wanted his adorable usuratonkachi for his own, but the glowing smile he received as thanks made his heart skip a beat and had reassured him that he had made the right decision to wait.

So here he was.

One month after Naruto had moved in with him.

Sasuke was waiting outside of the hospital in an isolated nearby garden with Kakashi, his self-proclaimed 'probation officer'.

Due to the terms of his probation, he would need a Jounin supervisor for every mission he took part of for the next two and a half years. He _was_ allowed to go on high rank missions, but only when he was needed so for now he had to pay dues with D-rank missions; something Kakashi had found extremely amusing to oversee.

Especially since about once a week he and Sakura—now a Jounin as well—would take it upon themselves to imitate their old Genin days, without Naruto, complete with Sakura pretending to fawn over him and Kakashi arriving late.

It also amused Naruto to no end when Sakura or Kakashi retold the day's events when they were allowed to see him, so Sasuke did not—openly—complain.

But he did hope that Kakashi would not try to retell this week's Team Seven Glory Days Reenactment. Kakashi had insisted that he only wanted to visit Naruto, but Sasuke had his doubts.

Neither man spoke while they waited for Naruto to finish his therapy session. They had already discussed a few topics with each other, spending the majority of the day together with Kakashi 'supervising'—reading his little orange book—Sasuke on his numerous D-rank missions and felt no reason to interrupt the tranquil atmosphere outside the hospital.

It was a few minutes after the usuratonkachi's therapy session was supposed to end, but that was normal for Naruto. It was either the blonde pushing himself to his limit or spending extra time afterwards socializing with Tsunade and Shizune since these were the only time they could see each other since Naruto was only allowed to go to the hospital or stay at home until he was able to stay around people again.

So Sasuke quickly realized that the time the session was merely a suggestion instead of a deadline.

Finally, after a few more minutes, Sasuke saw bright blond hair in the corner of his eye exiting the hospital, escorted by pink hair. Sasuke turned to face Naruto, catching Kakashi's attention who turned as well.

Sasuke noticed that Naruto was not sporting his usual smile whenever he was around Sakura, but rather a rather somber expression. The expression was immediately dropped as soon as Sakura had pointed to Sasuke and Kakashi in the isolated garden nearby the hospital; an area they had chosen so Naruto could have the opportunity to speak to Kakashi in an open area that was not in the hospital or Sasuke's and Naruto's home.

Now sporting a large smile, Naruto waved excitedly at the waiting duo and Kakashi raised a hand in response as the two men's expression softened; it was always nice to see Naruto smiling after not being able to see him for so long.

As soon as Sasuke and Kakashi were in hearing range, Naruto excitedly shouted, "Look! Look at what I did today!" jogging towards the two men.

Smiling from beneath his mask, Kakashi called out, "What?" in reply.

Instead of answering, Naruto picked up pace so he was now running towards Kakashi with a determined look in his blue eyes.

"Eh? Naruto?" Kakashi asked, smile now gone and replaced with a nervous confusion, his eye wide.

As a response, Naruto dove for Kakashi and wrapped his arms around the other man's torso, tackling him to the ground.

Sakura laughed loudly while Sasuke scowled. What had _Kakashi_ done to deserve a hug?

"Uh, Naruto?" Kakashi asked, still on the ground.

Naruto laughed and grinned widely as he sat on top of his old teacher and all but shouted, "Did you see that? I got near you and touched you without losing my mind!"

Sasuke's scowl lessened, appreciating the significance for Naruto to be able to approach someone at an accelerated pace and touch them without stopping and without switching to his 'attack' mode.

"Naruto was also able to allow Shizune to approach him!" Sakura exclaimed, taking her place next to Sasuke.

"Mmhmm!" Naruto confirmed, smiling up at Sasuke, expecting praise.

"Great job." Sasuke congratulated, offering Naruto a small smile as praise; something he normally would not allow when around other people like Sakura and Kakashi, but this was a special occasion.

"Yes, excellent job, Naruto." Kakashi agreed, "Now, can you please get off of me?"

Laughing once more, Naruto nodded as he reached up to grab Sasuke's offered hand, who was all too happy to get his usuratonkachi off of Kakashi.

"So does this mean that you are almost done with your therapy?" Kakashi asked after he had stood up, voicing the question both he and Sasuke were wondering earlier during the day.

It was Sakura who answered, "Not yet. He still needs his daily therapy for the memory suppression, but he is almost done with the physical aspect. The next step for him will be for him to be around more than five people at a time."

"So Sakura is going to invite everyone for me!" Naruto interrupted, "I really want to see everyone! I feel like it has been forever!"

Kakashi gave a gentle smile, "I'm sure they feel the same way too."

Sakura nodded before smiling once more, "Well, I'm off! I'm going to Ino's flower shop so we let everyone know by tomorrow!"

Kakashi also bade them a farewell, "I'll be off as well. Good job on your accomplishments today, Naruto." He ruffled Naruto's hair before Sakura gave Naruto a hug; both approaching him from in front of him so he could see who was doing what.

The two left after giving Sasuke nods, which he returned, inwardly elated that the two had decided to not stick around and recount this week's Team Seven Glory Days Reenactment for Naruto.

Sakura and Kakashi headed for one direction while Sasuke and Naruto left in the other direction, headed towards home.

The two took the back roads, occasionally pausing whenever they sensed anybody pass by so they would not be noticed. While Naruto was making an amazing recovery rate, he understood that there was a high possibility that he could accidentally slip into his 'attack mode' if approached by somebody he was not used to being around and seriously hurt someone.

So he had agreed with Tsunade when she told him to avoid the villagers until he was sure that he was comfortable being around a crowd of people since there would no doubt be a crowd that would want to welcome their village hero who had disappeared for two years not a month after saving them from Pain.

Sasuke had already made little appearances around the village here and there after it was publically announced that he had returned. He did all the errands for himself and Naruto which included grocery shopping as well as shopping for new clothes for the both of them and things for their house.

But being an anti-social creature by nature, he did not mind and even enjoyed avoiding people when walking Naruto to and from the hospital.

It had depressed Naruto at first, initially reinforcing his idea that he was weak and at the same time reminding him of the days in his childhood when he would avoid the villagers when returning home in fear of being beaten or having open hostility launched at him for something he couldn't control or understand.

Noticing this, Sasuke had turned avoiding people into a game of hide-and-seek with the unknowing bystanders; something that had cheered Naruto up to play a part of. The two hid from the villagers for about a week and a half until Naruto had decided to stop and enjoy the scenery of the back roads since the last time he remembered walking through the village, it had been a bunch of wooden house frames and not the fully finished village presented to him now. He had also begun to appreciate the simplicity of walking with Sasuke to their house like Sasuke had appreciated greatly.

Halfway through their walk home, Sasuke had grabbed Naruto's hand. Naruto had asked what he was doing and Sasuke had deadpanned that he was holding Naruto's hand.

Naruto had looked away, warning him to not get any 'funny ideas', but he did not let go and even squeezed Sasuke's hand back when the Uchiha interlaced their fingers together.

"So will you tell me why you were upset at the end of your therapy session?" Sasuke asked, referring to the somber face he had seen on the blonde as he left the hospital before noticing Sasuke and Kakashi.

Naruto winced and asked, "Upset? Who said I was upset?" in a fake confused voice and with a huge—fake—smile. Sasuke turned his head to face Naruto while they still walked, not saying anything and waiting for the blonde to cave.

Naruto had valiantly kept looking forward, but started to get nervous and sweat as a minute passed and Sasuke was still staring at him. He tried to keep staring forward, but the silence and staring were getting to him so finally he exclaimed, "GAH! Fine! I was. . .a _little_ upset."

"Hn." Sasuke said as he looked forward again, urging Naruto to continue.

Naruto mumbled in a small voice, "I had another memory today. . .one about a reserve mission I went on when I was. . .yeah."

Sasuke did not say anything, but he moved a little closer to Naruto and squeezing his hand to let him know that he was there for him.

"I'm not sure exactly what it was for, but we were sent to _exterminate_ a group of rogue ninja before they did anything to the village." Naruto whispered 'exterminate', truly horrified by the word.

The two were near their house, but Naruto was too focused on recounting his memory to notice. So Sasuke was leading Naruto through the gateway.

"When we got to their camp, they. . .they were eating dinner! Nothing bad! Just _dinner_!"

Sasuke opened the door for the both of them, never letting go of Naruto's hand which Naruto was squeezing.

"Without warning Akimo had hit the campfire they had with a large fireball and caused it to explode! He set the whole campsite on fire! While they were trying to figure out what was going on and trying to save everyone, Zima, Kohaku, Sai and I _slaughtered_ them! Those who tried to escape were either placed in a genjutsu by Takumo or were taken out by Akimo as they ran. They didn't have a chance!" Naruto explained, halfway to hysterics.

Sasuke had led the two of them to the living room and had sat Naruto down on the couch, squeezing Naruto's hand back and rubbing his arm as Naruto's misty eyes filled with tears.

"They. . .they were asking for _mercy_! They screamed for help! And I-I. . .I didn't do anything to help! I just killed them! Like a. . . like a. . ." Naruto cried, unable to continue as the tears spilled over.

"It's alright, it wasn't your fault; you weren't you," Sasuke soothed, rubbing his arm faster with his free arm.

"LIKE A _MONSTER_!" Naruto screamed, pushing Sasuke away and curling into himself.

Wanting more than anything to just pull Naruto into his arms and take all of his precious person's pain away from him and protect him from all the hurt in the world, Sasuke knew he had to hold himself back.

He wanted to pull Naruto into a hug. He wanted to pull those tan arms away from his face and kiss his pain away. He wanted to wipe those tears away. But he couldn't.

Despite his leaps in recovery, whenever he was emotionally vulnerable like now, Naruto did not have the concentration to hold himself back and would more often than not automatically switch to his attack mode whenever someone other than Sasuke got near him. And not even Sasuke could place more than a hand on him.

Each sob coming from Naruto cut through Sasuke like his katana; it hurt him to his core to hear his love in so much pain and unable to do much for him.

Kneeling in front of Naruto who was curled up on the couch, Sasuke placed a single hand on Naruto's knee carefully.

When Naruto did not tense, Sasuke began rubbing circles on the knee; waiting for Naruto realize he was there.

A minute later and more slashes to Sasuke's core, Naruto dove for Sasuke and started sobbing into Sasuke's chest.

Knowing that it was safe now, Sasuke wrapped his arms around Naruto.

Sasuke used one hand to hold the back of Naruto's head while the other was wrapped around the other's torso. He was rocking the two of them back and forth in a slow, soothing rhythm.

"It's not your fault." Sasuke told Naruto with conviction in his voice, "You were not in control of your body nor your actions. It was not you."

Naruto did not reply but burrowed himself further into Sasuke's chest, seeking comfort.

And Sasuke provided all of the comfort Naruto needed. It took more than an hour of rocking back and forth and whispering sweet words of comfort, but eventually Naruto had calmed down.

For the rest of the afternoon, Naruto was in a rather subdued mood, his recently unrepressed memory still on his mind. Normally, Naruto would try to force a smile on his face and pretend that things did not bother him as much as it did, but Sasuke had put a stop to that when Naruto had moved in with him. Sasuke had sternly told Naruto to not pretend around him, and had agreed to not pretend around Naruto as well. He said that they would be honest with each other.

Lifting Naruto's mood became Sasuke's mission for the rest of the day. He and Kakashi had dropped by Ino's flower shop earlier in the day and bought the flower seeds that Naruto had mentioned that he wanted and Naruto's mood had lifted when presented with them, surprised that Sasuke was actually paying attention to his earlier babbles.

The two of them had planted—Naruto planted while Sasuke kept him company—in the garden outside and went through the house while Naruto had pointed out where he thought that plants or other decorative things would look nice; all the while Sasuke held his hand when in the house.

Sasuke had made pasta for dinner, but he had included a small cup of instant ramen, intent on spoiling his blonde. Naruto had been ecstatic to see his favorite meal on the table, his mood completely lifted by then.

The two had enjoyed their dinner together as well as a ramen dessert. After the two had finished everything and had washed the dishes together, Sasuke had suggested that they spar in the backyard.

Naruto had immediately agreed. He was warned by Tsunade to not try to seriously fight anyone until later in his therapy, but Naruto had been relentless and Sasuke had agreed to begin practicing with him as long as he followed Sasuke's guidelines.

The main rule was that Naruto was absolutely not allowed under any circumstances allowed to use chakra, and neither was Sasuke or anyone nearby. Naruto was also required to tell Sasuke as soon as he started to feel tired or out of breath.

Understanding that the rules were set as a precaution for the very real possibility that Naruto could slip into his 'attack' mode, Naruto had agreed without any complaints like he normally would. He had no intention of returning to such a state, but was not used to slumming around all day and needed something more physical to do than planting seeds in the garden.

They could not officially spar with each other, but rather played an intense game of tag and simply called it sparring to list Naruto's spirits.

Naruto had been utterly delighted—and frightened at the same time—when he discovered that he was faster than he remembered and had little problems keeping up with Sasuke.

He was delighted because he was the reigning Spar-Tag Champion, never to be dethroned. But petrified because he did not remember training his body to become that fast. He was a firm believer in doing the work himself and not taking any shortcuts—other than utilizing his shadow clones while training, but he did not count that since technically he _was_ doing all of the work—and felt like he had cheated his way to his rather epic throne.

Sasuke had explained to him that he _did_ do the work, whether or not he remembered it, so it was not cheating.

While Naruto had accepted that logic, he feared what he was now capable of and at times felt like a stranger within his body.

After half an hour after the sun had set, Naruto had told Sasuke to stop 'sparring' because he was starting to feel tired.

Understanding, Sasuke had agreed and gave Naruto a wide berth while the two returned to the house to wash down just in case Naruto accidentally dropped his barriers and would slip into his 'attack mode'.

While Naruto took his shower, Sasuke had hoped that he had succeeded in tiring Naruto out.

Naruto did not notice it, but every time he remembered any mission that that bastard team took him on, later that night he would remember their horrid _activities_ afterwards.

Sasuke hoped that if his traumatized blonde wore himself out, then he would dream a dreamless sleep and be able to avoid having to remember _those_ memories.

While the usuratonkachi was still showering—and Sasuke's rather vivid imagination ran wild—Sasuke pulled out Naruto's extra-large futon, just in case. He had spoiled Naruto so that the blonde had both a large futon, for his tossing and turning needs, as well as an extra-large futon for nights when Naruto would be plagued by his resurfacing memories.

"You made my bed? Does this mean I'm making yours? Or are we switching rooms? 'Cause I have no problem taking the big room."

Sasuke turned around and saw Naruto in a towel leaning against the door frame.

"How many times have I told you to take your clothes with you so you aren't traipsing around in just your towel?" Sasuke applauded himself for not staring and getting a nosebleed.

The shirtless blonde shrugged and said, "Enough times that I could quote ya and STILL ignore you at the same time."

"Usuratonkachi!" Sasuke was trying _really_ hard not to openly worship the body that was in front of him and simply lavish it.

Naruto waved him off, "Yeah, yeah. I'm getting' changed, alright?"

"Good." Sasuke managed as he walked out of the room, trying to get to the shower before a certain blood flow became truly painful.

His shower was very quick and very, very cold.

When he was finished and had gotten changed—in the bathroom—Naruto had already fallen asleep.

Sasuke smirked as he leaned on the doorway to Naruto's room. His blonde was sleeping peacefully.

His plan must have worked; the usuratonkachi was not tossing and turning the way he would when he was dreaming. _What_ the idiot dreamt about, Sasuke did not know. All he knew was that apparently it required a lot of moving and very little sheets.

Sasuke's smirk widened into an actual grin as he observed his sleeping love; Naruto really did look adorable.

Blond hair was covered by the old sleeping hat that Naruto relied on for a good night's sleep. The usuratonkachi had glomped Sasuke in elation when he saw that Sasuke had salvaged it from boxes that fucking bastard had kept filled with memorabilia that the pale son of a bitch deemed unimportant, but Naruto did not need to know that last bit.

The rest of Naruto's body was covered, save for his shoulder and arm since they were thrown over his head while the rest of his body was under the bedding.

Naruto was also actually sleeping quietly for once. Sasuke had becomes accustomed to snoring coming from Naruto's room, so the silence was somewhat eerie, but comfortable. Sasuke hoped it was because Naruto was having a very restful slumber.

It was quite calming to watch Naruto sleep; hearing slow, even breaths, watching the blanket above his chest rise and fall with each breath, observing that serene expression. More than once, Sasuke caught himself wishing that Naruto would hurry up and be comfortable with their relationship so they can sleep next to each other.

Maybe it was selfish, but Sasuke didn't care at the moment.

He sighed, about to go across the hall to his own bedroom. But first, he wanted to have one more look at his slumbering blonde, wanting to be able to take in the beauty and serenity while he still could.

He knew very well that despite finding great comfort and happiness in knowing that Sasuke loved him, having the Uchiha—_lovingly_—stare at him made Naruto extremely nervous and somewhat paranoid.

Mostly it was because the adorable naivety of the blonde made him believe that Sasuke was staring at something on his face or clothing, but there was also an underlying hatred for stares from the days of his imperfect childhood.

So Sasuke enjoyed these moments when Naruto was sleeping like this; unguarded and completely lovable.

After staying a few moments more than he had originally intended, Sasuke turned away from the scene with an honest to goodness smile on his face.

The smile was quickly wiped off his face when he heard whimpering behind him.

He whipped around; hoping that he was merely suffering from a terminal head injury that caused him to hear what he refused to believe was a whimper.

It was _not_ a whimper! It couldn't be! Naruto only whimpered in his sleep when—

"No," the man in question groaned.

Sasuke froze, observing the changes in the blonde's sleeping face from just moments before.

Before, Naruto's face was calm; serene.

Now, Naruto's eyebrows were hunched together in a grimace of pain. His eyes were squeezed shut, as if hoping that would help block whatever unpleasant thing that was marring his slumber. His teeth were bared, grit together from stress. Escaping from that locked jaw every so often were whimpers.

Whimpers from nightmares.

Sasuke rushed to Naruto's side, hoping against hope that the nightmares were of either of them turning into monsters and devouring the innocent or something else that was as equally frightening to Naruto.

"N-no! Get away from me!" Naruto called out in his sleep, using the arm above his head to push away an imaginary being from in front of himself.

There was still a chance! Hopefully there was a terrible monster about to slash through Naruto!

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Naruto screamed, trying to huddle into a protective ball.

Something sank in Sasuke's stomach. It was painfully clear: Naruto was remembering being gang raped again.

"No, no, no, no. . ." Naruto whimpered, curling into himself some more.

There was no time to debate possible consequences about waking Naruto up. Sasuke frightening him be damned; facing the memories alone would be much more detrimental than with Sasuke.

Positioning himself carefully next to Naruto—he had learnt that apparently that _fucking BASTARD_ quite enjoyed taking SASUKE'S Naruto from behind—and pulled the trembling ball into a sitting position.

Naruto stiffened when Sasuke's arms wrapped around him, then resumed begging to not be touched.

When Naruto was properly seated, Sasuke placed one arm around his shoulders to balance him while he used the other to shake him.

"Wake up, Naruto!" he urged while shaking him, "It's a dream, only a memory!"

Naruto jerked a little, and cried out, "STOP IT!" referring to those bastards in his memories.

Sasuke shook harder, desperate to wake his love up so he could help at least a little, "It's only a memory! Just a memory!" he chanted, trying to reassure both himself and Naruto.

Naruto started to wake up from being jostled awake. When his eyes finally opened, they frantically searched the surrounding area to assess where he was, breathing too rapidly to be considered calm.

"Naruto," Sasuke squeezed the other's shoulder to let him know that he was there, but loosened his grip because he knew what was going to happen next.

Like Sasuke predicted, Naruto started to thrash around frantically, trying to escape the clutches of someone from his memories.

"Naruto, its Sasuke! Sasuke's here. Sasuke's got you." The Uchiha whispered in a soothing voice, pulling the frightened blonde into a warm embrace. He did not care that he was referring to himself in the third person; Naruto needed to know who was touching him.

The frightened ball froze, then a small, panicky whisper repeated, "Sas-Sasuke?"

"It's Sasuke." He repeated, placing a chaste kiss atop blonde hair and pulling Naruto closer to him.

Upon realizing that he spoke the truth, Naruto uncurled his arms away from himself and twisting his torso so he could grab hold of Sasuke; his knuckled strained white and his entire body trembling.

"I—they—they—I—" Naruto's voice cracked and broke several times as he tried to explain himself, burrowing himself into Sasuke's chest.

"Shhhh, Sasuke's here." Sasuke repeated, rubbing Naruto's back and pulling the other arm around the other's body and placing his hand on the back of the blonde's head.

"WHY?!" Naruto cried out before sobs overcame him as he pounded a fist against Sasuke's shoulder, "WHY WOULD THEY DO THAT?!"

Sasuke's face remained impassive as he asked himself the same question.

He could not give an answer, so he merely allowed the abuse to his shoulder to continue as he rocked his tormented love back and forth in a soothing rhythm as his precious one sobbed into his chest.

Hating himself more for what he was about to say than he ever did when he thought about his terrible decisions of the past, Sasuke forced himself to ask, "What did they do?"

Naruto completely froze mid-sob, choking back on himself, when he heard the question.

The blonde frantically shook his head no, refusing to say aloud what he remembered.

He held his love closer, hating himself more and more with each passing syllable, Sasuke said, "Tsunade said that talking through these is the fastest way to process them."

"I don't _WANT_ to process them! I WANT TO _FORGET_ THESE MEMORIES!" Naruto shouted as he grasped tightly onto Sasuke's shirt, sobs renewed.

"Not talking about this won't make you forget them. I will cause these memories to fester and haunt you." Sasuke reasoned, wishing it weren't so.

"They _already_ haunt me!" Naruto choked out between his sobs.

The words, the truth behind it, and the knowledge that more memories like this would resurface tore at Sasuke to his very core, though he did not allow that to be shown in his stoic expression. He needed to be strong for his Naruto.

"I'll listen to everything you tell me. I won't judge you for what they did, nor will I stop loving you." Sasuke assured the other in a firm voice.

Naruto shook his head in the negative again, though with less determination than before.

Sasuke kissed the top of his head again and whispered, "I love you."

Naruto's breath hitched, then shakily asked, "Ev-even though I-I…they…"

"I love you." Sasuke repeated.

Naruto was silent for a moment, still taking in shaking breaths as he was still crying. "Promise?" he whispered, and tensed as he waited for the rejection he assumed would follow.

In response, Sasuke took the hand that was holding the back of Naruto's head and slid it between them so he could hold Naruto's chin and pull it up so the two were properly facing one another in their embrace.

"I promise I'll still love you." Sasuke whispered before leaning forwards and placing a chaste kiss on those trembling lips before him.

The kiss was a small, short kiss. It was meant as a reassurance of Sasuke's love rather than a preview for his lust. He made sure his kiss was gentle and significant, rather than the urgent, sloppy, and _disgusting_ 'kisses' in his love's memories.

Naruto stared at him in a shocked wonder, before he nodded once slowly and re-burrowed himself into Sasuke's broad chest.

As Naruto hesitantly, and with many breaks for escaping sobs, recalled what he was subjected to as his bastard team 'celebrated' their successful mission, Sasuke held him close.

He did not comment, save for an occasional gentle prodding to continue, reasoning that the faster they get through this—together—the faster Naruto can forget about it all.

Throughout Naruto's sporadically hesitant or rushed description of his newest recalled memories, Sasuke felt a burning abhorrence for that fucking _bastard_ and that bastard team of his. Fuck imprisonment and lower ranks! Those sorry excuses for sons of whores deserved worse!

They deserved to be stabbed through the heart for every sob that escaped Sasuke's Naruto's lips. They deserved to get a Chidori in the gut for every time Naruto flinched away from someone. They deserved a burning coal down their throats for every doubt in trust or love Naruto had for those who _truly_ cared about him. They deserved a rusty pike shoved through their spinal cord for every nightmare Naruto had because of them.

They deserved to die in the most brutal of ways for what they did to Sasuke's Naruto.

By the end of the description of the most recent memory, Naruto was exhausted. Instead of burrowing himself into Sasuke's chest for security and comfort, he was slumped against it for pillow usage. His face was still tear stained, not because of renewed tears but because he did not have the energy to wipe them.

"And that's it?" Sasuke asked in a gentle tone.

Naruto wearily nodded his head, "Then S-S-Sai. . .Sai tucked me into his sleeping bag a-and he. . .he held me and made me sleep."

As Sasuke digested this, he made sure that none of his anger for that fucking bastard would be apparent for his tired love.

Using his hand to again tip Naruto's face, Sasuke gave his love a peck on the forehead and whispered, "I love you." Showing Naruto that he had kept his earlier promise.

Naruto gave him a sleepy smile and mumbled, "I live you too."

A slight chuckle escaped Sasuke's lips as he smirked and repeated, "You 'live' me?"

"Shut up, bastard." Naruto slurred, letting his head droop against the hand holding his chin, causing Sasuke to widen his grip.

"Alright, let's get you tucked in again." Sasuke picked Naruto up to place him in his usual place on the futon.

"I loff you too." Naruto attempted again.

"I can feel the 'loff'." Sasuke smirked again as he stretched out Naruto's legs rather than let him stay in a ball.

"Loaf?"

"I do enjoy bread, thank you." Sasuke humored Naruto, enjoying how adorable he was when the usuratonkachi struggled to pronounce 'love' in his sleepy haze.

"No! I looooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooove you!" Naruto drawled, wrapping—throwing—his arms around Sasuke's neck.

Sasuke's smirk grew into a smile and wrapped his arms around his precious love, "And I love you."

"I know that S'ske!" Naruto slurred, with a wide, exhausted smile on his face.

"Well do you know that you have to go back to sleep?" Sasuke asked in an amused tone, making note to himself to one day—when Naruto wasn't mentally a sixteen year old—soon to get this adorable man drunk since he was positive that he would be a happy drunk who would be highly amusing to watch.

"Night night?" Naruto asked, blearily looking back at Sasuke.

"Night night." Sasuke confirmed, taking Naruto's hands in his own to disentangle them from his neck.

"You're staying with me, right?" Naruto asked, still in a sleepy slur, but clearer than before, showing that he truly did not want to be left alone tonight.

Sasuke gave a small, reassuring smile and whispered, "Of course."

Naruto smiled back at him and allowed Sasuke to rearrange them both comfortably under the covers, the reason he had brought out the extra-large futon. As soon as Sasuke stopped moving, Naruto had melded himself against Sasuke's side and used his shoulder as a pillow.

Naruto was asleep in seconds and Sasuke would forever wonder just how he did it.

After Naruto was asleep, Sasuke slightly shifted his position so that Naruto's head slid onto his bicep. Once that was accomplished and the usuratonkachi stayed asleep, Sasuke leaned onto his side and swung his other arm so that he was protectively holding his precious one.

As he held the other, Sasuke stroked Naruto's whiskered cheeks.

How did those fuckers not realize how badly they were hurting his precious love?

His hand clenched in a fist as he pulled Naruto closer to him.

Those fuckers _will_ pay for what they did to _Sasuke's_ Naruto! He would make sure of it.

* * *

**And that was the long-awaited first chapter.**

**I liken reviews after a chapter to reviews during an intermission of a play.**

**It's kinda like the writer of the story is the playwright of the play (obviously) and while the actors and characters cannot step out to visit the audience during the intermission, the writer can. While waiting for the next segment with the audience, the playwright is eagerly awaiting to hear what the audience thinks. Do they not like it so last minute changes can be added to the next segment? Do they have questions other people have so the answer can be included later for those wondering? Do they like it? They playwright is eager to find out!**

**The playwright would always be excited if they are approached and someone tells them how much they are enjoying themselves. They'd even be excited if someone offered them some constructive criticism because it shows that at least the audience member took the time to approach them. But people ignoring their hard work and just waiting for the next segment despite the playwright knowing they are watching the play with at least some interest can get depressing.**

**And those who approach the playwright demanding for the next segment can get irritating. They appreciate the audience member taking the time to approach them, but it's like, just wait a little bit, I'm on my break.**

**Well, now that I am on the subject, I can tell you guys that I will update this story once a month due to chapters getting kinda long-ish—at least in comparison to the first chapters of the original story—and because of commitments to my other stories. If I miss a month, that just means double-update the **_**next**_** month.**

**Haha, I just realized that I sounded kinda whiney and demanding for reviews. Well, I am demanding a little, but that wasn't the point of that playwright thing. I'm just moving into my new dorm around this time so don't have much to say other than lamenting summer. So I decided to opinionate about how I see reviews and show why I almost always review for the stories I read and at the same time urging others to follow my example lol.**

**Thank you!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

**I have been told quite a number of things about people's hopes for this story. Some say that my chapters nowadays are too long and I should shorten them. Some others say the opposite, and wish that they stay long. But somehow the most important thing—besides an understandably overwhelming amount of bloodlust for the ANBU team's death—is for smexy times between Sasuke and Naruto, which I personally find kinda funny.**

**Well, sorry to disappoint some in this chapter, but it's kinda long, no death, and no smexy times .**

**Onwards with the chapter!**

* * *

Naruto was very excited about today.

Today was important: Naruto was going to see all his old teammates after all this time!

For him, the absence was about, like, three months-ish? But he knew that for them, it was more like two-and-a-half-ish _years_.

So he was totally excited to see them all again. He loved his Team Seven, Shizune, and Tsunade lots—like a _lot_ a lot—but seeing the same people day in and day out for about two months had gotten kinda boring; not that he'd admit it in fear the wrath that would ensue.

But on the flip side that had made Naruto a LITTLE nervous, there was a _reason_ that he hadn't seen them for about two months. Tsunade and his other lovely medical-nin had little to no idea how he would react to so many people at one time.

They knew that he could handle, like, five people at once; but that was with people who he was used to and Sasuke didn't count.

But they were willing to chance it because they also knew how much people missed Naruto—people actually missed him!—and how they would be hurt if there could only be a set number of people outside of Team Seven and they, who had fought to rescue Naruto, could not see him while others could.

Naruto couldn't bear to put others through the pain of being excluded, so he had begged Sakura and Tsunade to invite everyone he knew.

There were debates, but eventually there was a compromise of inviting Team Kakashi, Team Ino-Shika-Cho, Neji-TenTen-Lee, and Kiba-Hinata-Shino. Unfortunately, Gai was assigned on a solo mission before they had approved Naruto for this visit and was still away, and Kurenai-Sensei was busy with her little toddler.

Naruto was condiment that his friends would respect his meter-radius thing, and was therefor sure that there was no chance that he would switch.

So he was _so_ looking forward to today. So much so, that he woke up two hours before normal!

He would have literally jumped out of bed, but he was embarrassed to find that he had awoken in Sasuke's arms as they shared Naruto's futon.

Naruto had made sure that his bright red flush was invisible to Sasuke as he snuck out of the futon for a shower. Sasuke _seemed_ to stay asleep, but Naruto could swear that the bastard was pretending and secretly enjoying Naruto's attempts to get out of his grip and leave quietly. That bastard.

Naruto had taken a shower—wanting to look his absolute best for when he saw his friends again—and was impatiently waiting for the appointed time to go see everybody.

The blonde was never known for his patience, so he had gotten rather fidgety.

Not lets-clean-the-house-with-anal-detailed-work fidgety like he knew Sasuke would deny doing, but more on the lines of he tried time and time again to make a proper breakfast.

Before everything happened and he had lost two years of his life, Naruto did not know how to make breakfast.

To be honest, he never really tried to learn. He was always groggy after waking up so anything edible and quick/easy to 'make' was fine with him. His breakfasts were usually either instant ramen or cereal. And on missions, when he _was_ alert after being awoken, if they did have breakfast it was some sort of power snack.

The only times he had real breakfasts were when he was traveling with Er-Sennin.

But thing were different now. Now, Sasuke made Naruto breakfast every morning; the _good_ kind, too!

Usually, Naruto would either sleep until the smell woke him up, or he would chat with Sasuke and did not really pay attention to what the Uchiha was doing.

So that led to Naruto's current dilemma. He wanted to make Sasuke a proper breakfast since he was already so fidgety, but he had little to no idea how.

He tried imitating what he could remember from the meager memories of Sasuke explaining the process, but he could not remember if he was talking about waffles or the pancakes Naruto was trying to make.

The blonde knew that syrup went in there SOMEWHERE, but he didn't know where exactly…

So he was currently putting it on the batter while it was on the stove. That made it tastier, right?

"Usuratonkachi, what are you doing?"

Naruto held back a _manly_ shout, that would have been in a _manly_ voice, that oozed with _manly_ testosterone. But a SMALL shriek might have escaped.

"BASTARD! Don't sneak up on me!" Naruto shouted—in his _manly_ voice—after he had recovered. He then checked to see how his pancakes were doing after he put the syrup down on the counter.

"Hn." Sasuke grunted in all of his articulate-ness.

So in retaliation, Naruto stuck his tongue out at him. It was clearly the way to win any argument.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke repeated, standing next to Naruto.

"I'm making pancakes." The blonde answered with as much dignity as he could to Sasuke's somewhat disapproving tone. He couldn't understand the reason for the tone. Wouldn't the bastard LIKE being made breakfast, despite his being a bastard?

"No you're not." Sasuke said as he disappeared from Naruto's side.

"Yes I am!" Naruto retorted. Some people just couldn't accept when they've been beaten at their own game. Such a shame.

"No, you're making inedible goop." Sasuke said as he reappeared with cleaning supplies which he placed next to the sink. He then proceeded to take the pan over to the trashcan and throw Naruto's hard work away!

"NOOOOOOOO! MY BABIES! MY PRECIOUS BABIES!" Naruto weeped as he crumpled next to the trashcan with his pancakes inside.

"You were going to eat your own babies?" Sasuke asked, his tone border-lining amusement as he cleaned the pan.

Naruto flashed him a grin and said, "Hell yeah, if they tasted as good as your pancakes!"

Sasuke turned back to the sink and grunted, "Hn."

"Hey, Bastard! Since you threw my babies away, you have to make me some new pancakes!" Naruto declared, making his way to collect a plate and silverware so that there would be no delay between finishing the delicious pancakes and eating them.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted again as he made his way to the cabinets to get the needed things out again.

"Sasukeeeeeeeee," Naruto whined as the bastard was taking too long.

"What?" Sasuke asked in return.

"Hurry uuuuup! I need a proper breakfast before I see everyone again and YOU were the one who said that ramen isn't a proper breakfast!" Naruto tried to hold back tears as he remembered the blasphemic rule.

Sasuke didn't reply.

"Bastard?" Naruto asked. Usually Sasuke would reinforce the rule.

It took a moment, but Sasuke spoke again, "Are you sure you want to go?"

"Go? I don't havta pee." Naruto replied, a little confused.

"Not bathroom, usuratonkachi. To meet everyone today." Sasuke explained as he finished making the pancakes.

"Of course I wanna go! I haven't seen them in three months!" Naruto replied immediately.

"Two years." Sasuke corrected quietly.

"Even more reason to go! Why? Do you not want me to go?" Naruto asked, thinking he understood Sasuke's hesitance.

Sasuke sighed as he motioned for Naruto's plate, "It's not that I don't want you to go, but rather that I'm worried."

"Why? I know it's sad that we can't invite more people, but they'd understand, right? So no need to worry!" Naruto assured the other as he handed him his orange plate.

"Idiot, do you know _why_ there can only be a limited number of people?" Sasuke asked in a tone as if he were talking to a kid as he placed some mouth-watering pancakes onto Naruto's plate. They were no ramen, but for breakfast's needs, they were pretty damn good.

Naruto accepted his plate with a smile, then squinted his eyes as he thought hard about the question, "Uhhhhhhh, besides the possibility of me flipping out, I can't think of anything."

Sasuke sighed and looked like, if he were human, he would hit his face with the palm of his hand.

"Wha—" Naruto asked, his mouth full of pancakes; all warm and fluffy pancakes. Delicious.

"THAT'S why I'm worried." Sasuke said in a slightly exasperated tone.

"Eh?" Naruto cocked his head to the side in his confusion. Sasuke was worried because Naruto couldn't think of many reasons to be worried?

Looking Naruto straight in the eye, Sasuke said slowly, "I'm worried about the possibility of you 'flipping out'."

Naruto's head snapped into place with a huff, "So you don't trust me?"

"I trust you." Sasuke said in a now patient tone.

"Then why worry?" Naruto asked heatedly. Everything would be fine! He hadn't _really_ flipped in like, two weeks!

"I trust you," Sasuke repeated, "but it's the rest of THEM I don't trust."

Naruto groaned, "You're such a downer, Sasuke! Everything will be okay! Now eat your breakfast."

When Sasuke complied, Naruto felt a surge of happiness and almost did a happy dance. Sasuke would NEVER listen to what Naruto would order back in the glory days of Team Seven; every time he did was a new rush.

With that, Naruto returned to his own breakfast, explaining to the Uchiha exactly how awesome pancakes were because they were stackable and easy to dowse in syrup.

Sasuke grunted a lot, but that was his form of communication.

One day he might learn how to converse like humans.

After breakfast, Naruto bounded around the house, full of pent up energy. He couldn't help it! He was that excited!

He tried to tend to the garden, but he ended up running back to the house after watering every flower to check to see if it was time to leave yet. While it DID waste some time, it did not make it go any faster.

Naruto was not desperate enough to start cleaning, but he did resort to eating to pass the time and hopefully calm himself down.

He had made instant ramen—one of the few things he COULD make properly—and had already dug in when Sasuke had returned to the kitchen, all showered up and clean.

"So is it almost time to leave?" Naruto asked. Despite constantly checking the clock and being fully prepared to see everyone again, the blonde actually had no idea when that would be. Sakura had told Sasuke the time rather than Naruto, to his annoyance.

Sasuke shook his head in the negative and grabbed another cup of instant ramen from the cupboard because Naruto had already finished his first one.

The blonde groaned; he wanted to leave already!

As Sasuke started to heat up the cup, he said, "We should review possible exist strategies in case everything starts to overwhelm you."

Naruto groaned again. Why couldn't Sasuke understand that everything was going to be FINE?

"There's no need because everything will be fine." Naruto told Sasuke with a slight pout on his face.

Sasuke ignored him, "If you are feeling the least but strained, you should let me, Kakashi, or Sakura know. Kakashi and I will take you to a safe place while Sakura keeps everyone else away."

"But everything will be fine!" Naruto attempted to assure the other again. But like last time, to no avail.

"Even though have progressed to a meter radius, we'll make sure that the radius is doubled if not tripled."

"No need to. It'll be fine."

"Everyone has also been told they need to suppress their chakra and to definitely not allow it to flare."

"But it's fine."

"But if you are uneasy, we will take you to a different, isolated space so you can gather yourself."

"But I won't flip out because everything will be fine!"

"Kakashi and I will set up several barriers just in case—"

"SASUKE!" Naruto shouted to get the other's attention.

Said Uchiha was silent. His back was still turned to Naruto as the timer chimed, letting the two men know that the ramen was ready.

Neither of them spoke, but Sasuke mutely stopped heating the contents of the cup lest they overcook.

The blonde, not one for silence, spoke up again, "Sasuke, can you just…not? Please? I know about the chance of my flipping out, but I also know that you guys got it covered!"

The bastard still said nothing.

So Naruto continued, "Even if you don't trust everyone else, _I_ do! And what's more: I trust you, Sakura, and Kakashi! I know that none of you will let anything happen. So just…chill, alright?"

Sasuke continued to show silence that he was the master.

Then Naruto's stomach rumbled.

Naruto blushed slightly because of his tummy's tendency to fill awkward silences with the song of its people.

"Uhhhhh, bastard? You have my food. My stomach is mad and is about to call you out on stealing its lover."

Finally, Sasuke grunted, "Hn," and grabbed the cup and placed it in front of Naruto who smiled. It may not have been much, but Sasuke was speaking—in Uchiha non-human language—again.

Taking a huge slurp of the orgasmic ramen, Naruto asked "Fo whe- 'o we 'lea-?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow as a silent question.

After Naruto finished consuming the contents of the cup mere seconds later, he tried again, "So when do we leave?"

"Later," Sasuke answered as he collected Naruto's trash.

"Bastard! That's not a time!"

"Hn."

Naruto groaned, "You're such a downer, bastard! You need to be more excited! This is the first time I'm seeing everybody and I'm not all flipped out attack mode or in your arms all damsel-and-distress-y!" he exclaimed, crossing his arms and looking to the side, pouting.

Sasuke's demeanor seemed to change as he somehow suddenly appeared on the blonde's opposite side.

"It's your job to be the optimistic, excited idiot." Sasuke breathed into Naruto's ear, making him shiver a little.

"Wha—"

"And it's _my_ job to be the pessimistic, bastard boyfriend."

Naruto's face had never flushed so hard; his previous blushes were no match for the mother of all red faces he was currently sporting.

"B-b-b-boy-boy-boy-boy-_boyfriends_?" Naruto stammered, desperately looking anywhere but at the bastard behind him, "We-we-w-we never a-agreed t-to be b-boyf-f-friends."

Again, somehow and suddenly, Sasuke ended up in front of him and enveloped him into a hug before Naruto could realize what was going on.

"Oh? We live together. We sleep together, like we did last night. _And_ we acknowledge that we love each other." Sasuke spoke in a confident, low and somewhat seductive tone, all of which combined made Naruto on the border-line of shivering a little from it. That bastard.

"Gra-Granny Tsunade made me l-live here. A-and we DON'T 'sleep together'! I had a nightmare and you took advantage and decided to become a cuddle monster last night!"

Sasuke chuckled a little, "'Cuddle monster'?" he repeated.

Naruto nodded against the chest he was held in place against and whined, "What happened to the NICE Sasuke who said that we didn't have to rush things or define ourselves until I'm ready?"

"If you're ready to meet everyone else again, like you are so eager to, then you must be ready to admit that you are my boyfriend." Sasuke spoke in a slightly teasing—for Uchihas—tone. Naruto could practically _hear_ the smirk that was sure to have formed above his head.

"BASTARD!" Naruto shouted and began attempting to escape in earnest.

"The 'Bastard' Sasuke has currently locked up the 'nice' Sasuke."

Confused, Naruto stopped struggling, "What?" he asked. Sasuke was locked up? But wasn't _he_ the one locking _Naruto_ up in this hug?

"The only way to let him out is with a kiss." Sasuke said, loosening his hold on Naruto enough so that the blonde could look up at him.

The Uchiha had a smug smirk on his face. That bastard.

If Naruto wasn't sporting a blush that made the mother of all blushes look like a little schoolgirl compared to the GRANDMOTHER of all blushes, then he might have glared at him.

The bastard, seemingly enjoying Naruto's fluster, then whispered into the blonde's ear, "Nice Sasuke knows when we're leaving."

DAMN THAT BASTARD! Naruto tried his best to glare at the other, but Sasuke merely smirked and rendered it useless.

So Naruto stuck his tongue out at him.

Take that, bastard.

Then Naruto obstinately turned his head to the other side; to which Sasuke chuckled again and cupped his hand against blond hair to press Naruto's head against his chest.

Naruto didn't pay it much attention as his mind was debating what to do. Bastard-Sasuke was all touchy feely! Naruto was still trying to wrap his mind that Sasuke was back in Konoha and going to stay along with the bastard lov-loving him. Touchy-feely Sasuke wasn't making the transition from mentally being sixteen to eighteen like everyone else.

He was severely tempted to just kick the guy's ass. But two things held him back: he was not allowed to actively fight and the bastard claimed that Nice-Sasuke was still here.

He would have ignored those reasons, but he knew better than to disregard the no-fighting rule because it was set for a very good reason and he did not want to give anyone any reason to keep him from seeing everyone today. Hey, maybe he WAS getting more mature-ish!

With a groan, Naruto fisted his hands on the side of his body and asked, "You said a ki-kiss will bring Nice-Sasuke back?"

"A kiss is the key." Bastard-Sasuke clarified for the blonde.

Naruto nodded, steeling himself for what he was going to do and pushed himself slightly away from Sasuke's chest so he could properly face him. Sasuke allowed this and did not hold onto him like he did when Naruto was trying to escape.

Taking a deep breath—though that did not help the steadily rising blush that neared Mother of All Blushes proportions—Naruto slightly puckered his lips and went in.

And he pecked the tip of Bastard-Sasuke's nose.

Then he backed away quickly to gulp down some water to calm himself down.

Naruto ran to the sink, grabbed a cup, filled it with water, and quickly began to gulp down the cool liquid.

Sasuke chuckled behind him, "That was your kiss?"

Naruto accidentally spit out his water and turned around while he pointed an accusing finger at the bastard, "SHUT UP! That was deeply erotic! And you never said it had to be on the lips!"

Sasuke smirked at him, "That is true."

"So-so shut up and be Nice-Sasuke!" Naruto shouted and turned his back to the Uchiha to refill his cup.

Suddenly, he felt arms wrap around his waist, "Alright, I can be Nice-Sasuke."

"Thi-this is N-Nice-Sasuke?" Naruto stuttered. Dammit, the water was NOT working!

"Nope," Sasuke said as he rested his chin on Naruto's shoulder "This is," he whispered before Naruto could call him out on his bastard-ness.

He kissed the nape of the blonde's neck and said, "We can leave now."

"REALLY?" Bastard-Sasuke forgotten, Naruto bounded out of Sasuke's hold and ran for the front door, "C'MON, SASUKE! WE DON'T WANT TO BE LATE! LET'S _GO_!" he shouted as he mashed his feet into his sandals.

Sasuke grunted, "Hn," as he calmly put on his own sandals.

It was hard not to jump for the rooftops to their destination, Training Ground Three according to Sasuke, like he would a couple of mon—YEARS ago, let alone not even _run_!

But Sasuke said that in his excitable state, it would be easy for him to accidentally use some chakra; and since they were not sure how he would react anyways to a lot of people, they did not want to test out how he would react when he was using his own chakra and thus be very sensitive to other chakra signatures.

So Naruto ended up walking directly behind Sasuke so he could focus on stepping exactly where Sasuke had stepped rather than their destination.

Sasuke stopped a lot, but that was because of their usual need to avoid the villagers. If Naruto was paying more attention, he would have noticed that Sasuke was being rather paranoid about running into others today. But as it was, Naruto was not paying attention to Sasuke; only his feet.

FINALLY after HOURS—thirty minutes—the two had arrived at Training Grounds Three.

It was Sakura who had suggested the area. She had said that it would be most fitting considering that Naruto always seemed to do his most intense training here and that it held so many memories.

Naruto was overjoyed when they had arrived at their destination. Not only was he going to see everyone again REALLY soon, but now that Sasuke was back, his memories of this area were no longer marred!

He and Sasuke—Naruto—had a great time remembering the good ol' days of Team Seven training here, and Naruto even re-accounted some stories of other times he had trained here.

Not long after Naruto told Sasuke about learning to split a leaf in half by only using his wind chakra, Sakura and Kakashi joined them.

Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi continued to remember good times in this Training Ground while Sasuke grunted every so often when Naruto demanded that he participate in the conversation.

They had somehow situated themselves in a reminiscent pose of when they had discovered that the three then-Genin had learned that that had passed. Kakashi was standing in front of the wooden posts, surprisingly with no book, as they talked. Sasuke and Sakura were leaning against their respective posts. Naruto, however, was not tied to his middle post but was rather sitting on top of it.

The old Team Seven—minus Sasuke—had gotten so lost in their memories that it was not until Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji had shown up.

Naruto greeted them brightly, and was enthusiastically greeted back, but was told both verbally or silently to stay where he was by the members of the old Team Seven.

Being unable to resist himself, he jumped off of the post he as sitting on, but did—could—not move forward because Sasuke was partially holding him back by his T-shirt.

The blonde was going to turn around to ask Sasuke what he was doing, but then he heard Sakura reminding Team Ino-Shika-Cho about Naruto's meter-radius boundary and figured that Naruto had probably forgotten his rule himself. Which he did, but he would never admit it.

Ino, speaking for the other two boys, had promised to stay at least two meters away just to be safe.

Naruto was a little disappointed, mostly because all of this boundary stuff reminded him of when he was a kid and people would avoid him like the plague, but Sasuke had started to rub tiny circles on the small of his back to let him know that he was not alone.

Not that it mattered all that much, because his friends that had just arrived began to speak animatedly with him.

"Ohhhhhh my gawd, Naruto! It is so good to finally see you again!" Ino exclaimed excitedly.

"It's good to see you guys too!" Naruto gave them his signature smile, which was returned gladly.

"It's great to see that smile again." Chouji admitted aloud to Naruto.

Naruto cocked his head to the side, "What?"

Shikamaru sighed, but he too was smiling a little, "He means that it was weird not seeing the smile we had gotten used to for two years."

Ino interrupted by saying, "It was SO weird! You're smile used to brighten up our days without our even realizing it! It wasn't the same without you." She finished with a little pout.

Chouji finished for them, "So that's why it's so refreshing to see your smile again after so long."

Naruto was brimming with tears of happiness, "It's no big deal…" he said awkwardly as he scratched the back of his neck.

"Are you kidding me?" Ino shouted out, but in a controlled fashion, "Without you here, this one here," she gestured to Chouji, "returned to eating his insecurities away and _this_ one," a gesture towards Shikamaru, "spent more time than ever staring at the clouds! And not in the lazy way like usual, but serious thinking mode! And _I_ was the only bubbly blonde around! It was so pressure filled because you left a huge gap in the fun side of being a blonde!"

Even though she had basically insulted them, Shikamaru and Chouji were smiling with Ino as she pretended to huff around about losing Naruto's fellow blonde-ness.

When Sakura started to laugh along with them, Naruto deemed it safe for he himself to laugh as well.

Soon afterwards, Team Gai—minus Gai—almost immediately followed by Team Kurenai—minus Kurenai and Akamaru—arrived in the Training Grounds to join everyone else.

Everyone was in good spirits; even Kakashi who was off to the side as a 'Naruto supervisor'.

For the most past, Naruto marveled at how much people had changed. Not only did they look a little older, but they held themselves differently. They were no longer crazed teenagers but rather young adults.

Naruto felt rather young at that point. He knew that he had lost two years of his life and that he was basically sixteen in an eighteen-year-old's body, but he never thought about it beyond occasionally reminding himself of that fact whenever he saw himself in the mirror or when he noticed Sasuke being especially patient with him.

But he had been surrounded by those who understood and adjusted their interactions accordingly, and since he had always thought Sasuke, Sakura, Shizune, Kakashi, and Tsunade to be more mature than himself, Naruto had not thought much of it.

Now, however, he considered himself young amongst those he had considered to be his relative equals in maturity levels, or close enough. It was all so surreal.

Sakura's voice broke through his thoughts and brought him back to reality, though.

"Alright, I know that we are all excited to see Naruto again, but you guys HAVE to remember to keep in mind his meter-radius! Make it two or three just to be safe!" Sakura barked out orders as she situated herself in front of Naruto.

Before anyone else could say a word, she began ordering about again, "And no chakra! We still aren't sure how he'll react to chakra and we don't want to take any chances."

Naruto wondered when it had been decided that Sakura would be in charge today as he looked between Kakashi and Sasuke. Kakashi had taken out on of his Ero Ero books to read, though Naruto knew that he would also be keeping an eye on everyone.

Sasuke looked like he couldn't care less about what was going on, which was probably true. Apparently, judging by his expression and his hand still on Naruto's back, he was only there for Naruto's sake.

"Who make you Queen of the world?" Ino demanded, though she seemed to be the only one. Everyone else seemingly decided to just accept it.

"I'm not Queen, I'm Naruto's medical-nin and have been assigned by Tsunade to make sure that the restrictions are kept." Sakura shot back.

That made sense, Naruto decided, but he could have done without so many restrictions. He was _fine_.

After a bit of small talk, greetings and such mostly, Naruto decided that it was best to give his friends a little knowledge of what had been going on since they helped rescue him from his old 'team'.

"So, uhhhh, yeah," he nervously laughed and scratched the back of his head as he struggled to find where to begin, "I, uhm, don't really remember much that has happened in the past two years. I mean, I wasn't really conscious when it happened, so when I woke up I thought it had only been about two or three weeks.

"But the memories keep popping up so now I'm in therapy for that. Also, the meter thing has been a result from my therapy because I used to flip out into my weird 'attack mode' when someone came within TEN meters! But now I'm fine, I think." Naruto finished lamely, making sure to not look at Sasuke, who he could SWEAR was glaring at him for saying he was fine.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru yawned after a pause, though the concern for Naruto was evident in his tone.

After that, Sakura had made each team give a rundown of sorts of missions and other things that had happened during Naruto's two year absence; minus the part about worrying about him of course.

Naruto smiled, truly enjoying hearing what his friends had been up to.

Most of his friends had achieved Jounin status like Sakura had, which made Naruto jealous because he still considered himself a Genin since he had no memory of BECOMING an ANBU, though had too many of the missions he had been on as one.

The world had apparently become a mostly peaceful one. The Akatsuki were mostly dissipated with Pain gone and Konan retired. Naruto was glad to hear that apparently the Eight-Tailed Beast and the Raikage had killed Itachi's old partner, Kisame.

But with the main threat gone, the villages had regained their mutual alliances or rivalries without any declared battles. That was normal now, but—like in his ANBU memories—more and more rogue groups were popping up, hoping to be the next big bad to fill in the hole Akatsuki had left.

Luckily, the status of the world was not all that was to be talked about.

Team Ino-Shika-Cho rarely went out on full-scale missions because of their respective duties either for the Hokage or their parents' shops, but they had one of the highest percentages of satisfactory completed missions.

The same could be said for Neji, TenTen, and Lee but rather than obligations keeping them from team missions, solo or specialized missions got in the way.

Kiba, Hinata, and Shino apparently did frequently go out on missions together, because they were the ideal sentry team. Other than that, Hinata was training to become the next Hyuuga heiress, though she insisted that Neji help lead the clan with her by leading the Branch House.

All of these stories were directed by Sakura, who decided who and when people would speak to Naruto. She was quite adamant about people speaking one at a time so to not overwhelm Naruto—though he saw no reason for that and let the others know by a shrug behind Sakura's back—but she had no qualms with Naruto interrupting stories with his exclamations.

Luckily, no one else did either. In fact, they smiled whenever he boisterously laughed or shouted his opinions about something.

Time flew by as different stories were told. Even though he thought they were boring, Naruto re-accounted some of his therapy sessions because Hinata had asked—with minimal stuttering—what they were like.

All of a sudden, there were loud noises approaching them.

Naruto tried to step forwards to get a better look, but Sasuke's hand flew out in front of him and Sakura stood in front of him as well.

When it got closer, people could see that it was Konohamaru, Udon, and Moegi.

"BOSS!" Konohamaru shouted excitedly, waving his hand wildly to get the blonde's attention.

"Konohamaru?" Naruto asked, peeking his head out from behind Sakura's shoulder.

The now teenaged trio was about to respond when Sakura spoke up instead.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded.

It was Konohamaru who responded, "We heard that Boss was going to be here! So of COURSE we came!"

"Uhh, Konohamaru," Udon tugged on the other boy's scarf which was now only down to his waist, "I think we shouldn't have come here." He was trying to get the other boy to pay attention to all the older teenagers who were slightly glowering at them, but holding themselves from tensing lest they trigger Naruto.

"NO! You guys aren't the only ones who missed Boss! He's fine now, so why should we leave?" Konohamaru shouted, glaring at Sakura who was a couple of centimeters shorter than him now.

"Uhh, I don't mind them being here." Naruto declared. He heard Sasuke mutter 'idiot' behind him, but chose to ignore that.

"Are you sure, Naruto?" Sakura asked, her eyes filled with concern and worry.

Naruto gave her one of his signature grins to calm her down, "Hell yea! Like Konohamaru said: I'm fine!" He even gave her a thumbs up for good measure.

Sakura looked like she still had doubts, but stepped aside and turned around, but was still a human barrier of sorts so that the trio could not approach Naruto.

Once he got the all good, Konohamaru grinned mischievously at Naruto—who smiled back—and shouted out, "ALRIGHT, BOSS! I've been training for two years! So get ready to be out-done!"

Before anyone could ask what he meant, Konohamaru disappeared in a puff of smoke and had transformed into a very curvy woman. Then (s)he made a clone who transformed into a pole and (s)he began swirling around it in a seductive way. Then finally, (s)he stopped in a power slide with the lower regions pointed at Naruto while (s)he looked over the rather sizeable breasts to gauge Naruto's reaction.

Naruto was holding back a good laugh as he saw some of his friends trying to discreetly hide some bulges in the pants.

Before he could comment, Konohamaru transformed back to himself and began balling excitedly, "How about that, Boss? I remembered what you originally told me when you were teaching me the Rasengan and I decided to combine that with the Sexy Jutsu! So, pretty hot, huh?"

Naruto was going to compliment the creative side to it, but critique him on how he could have made it sexier, when Moegi started shouting as well, "YOU IDIOT! The first thing you do when you see Naruto-nii is show him THAT? That's DISGUSTING! I thought you stopped!"

"Uhh, guys?" Udon tried to get their attention, but his voice was too quiet and frightened to be heard over the shouting.

His input was not needed, however, as the object of his fear was making her anger known.

Sakura began stomping towards Konohamaru angrily.

"YOU BRAT! _THIS_ IS THE REASON YOU WERE NOT ALLOWED TO COME! THIS IS A TRIAL RUN TO SEE IF NARUTO CAN BE AROUND PEOPLE AGAIN! AND HE SHOULD _NOT_ BE EXPOSED TO _CHAKRA_!" she shouted as she swung her arm to attack the poor boy.

Naruto was in mid-laugh at the memories this brought when he saw Sakura physically attack Konohamaru.

Then it happened.

Naruto flipped.

All he was aware of was an enemy attacking someone else in front of him.

Not using chakra, but possibly dangerous.

The enemy must be eliminated before they attack him.

Quickly he sprung towards the enemy and elbowed them behind the neck.

They lost consciousness. Enemy out of commission.

Then several chakra signatures began to flair.

He swiftly ran behind the closest one.

This enemy was still facing where he was.

He grabbed their extended arm and pulled them from their crouch.

Then he kicked them in the back of the knee, effectively both popping the shoulder from the socket and dislodging the knee cap.

The enemy was writhing on the ground.

He kicked them in the head.

Enemy out of commission.

Another enemy without chakra quickly approached so he jumped out of the way.

The enemy whirled around with great speed, but he ducked underneath.

The enemy extended their arm too far, so he punched the enemy's elbow from beneath and broke the bone.

Enemy withdrew their arm, but it hung loosely. He would aim for that side.

Enemy jumped, aiming a kick for him, but he jumped as well.

He quickly grabbed the ankle before the speedy enemy could withdraw it and through the enemy down on his weakened arm's side.

Enemy winded, but not out of commission.

Another chakra signature flared from behind him, but it was not an enemy?

The one with the non-threatening chakra signature wrapped their arms around him.

They were not an enemy. They would not be thrown off.

The arms were warm…they felt…familiar…

"_.a….o_"

What? What was that?

"_Na_—_to_"

What was that? Why was everything fuzzy? Why was the voice…familiar? Did he know the voice?

"_Naruto_,"

Naruto? What was that? It sounded like a name. Was that his name? Or was that the voice's name?

Then the non-enemy-maybe-Naruto chakra signature's arms wrapped tighter around him. That was okay, because it was non-enemy-maybe-Naruto and not an enemy.

He vaguely noticed that the other chakra signatures had either stilled completely or had diminished to dormant levels, making them non-threatening enemies. They would not need to be put out of commission.

But that was overpowered by the non-enemy-maybe-Naruto placing their lips upon his head. It felt nice. But it made things fuzzy again. His head hurt.

Enemy was approaching!

They had a defensive chakra signature; ready to turn offensive.

This enemy needed to be taken out of commission.

But the arms around him restricted him!

"_NA-O_!"

He could not pay attention to the voice! The enemy was right in front of him!

The enemy was only standing, bit was a possible threat. Enemy needed to be taken out of commission!

"_Nar—o_!"

No…couldn't pay attention to the voice…couldn't pay attention to the arms…but…but…

"_Naruto_!"

Was the voice from the non-enemy-maybe-Naruto? Wait—it was no longer only arms touching him…

Now there was also a body pressed against his back, the arms holding him in place.

It felt warm. But, but it was making things fuzzy again. He couldn't be fuzzy…fuzzy meant head hurting.

Oh, his head was hurting. It was also heavy. He didn't like it heavy. Maybe he could lean against the warm body behind him.

He slumped his body a little; the warm body behind him caught the extra weight. That shouldn't be good with the enemy in front of him…

But the enemy did not move. In fact, the chakra was less defensive and more dormant. Maybe it was a trick…but…maybe that was good? His head hurt…

"Naruto!"

Who was calling for him? Didn't they know that Naruto's head hurt? Ugh, and his body felt heavy as well. He was leaning against something; maybe he could put more weight on it?

Oh good, someone's arms had caught him. Wait…whose arms?

"Naruto!"

Sasuke? Why was Sasuke calling him by name and not by an insult? Woah, that was a weird thought to have.

Then Naruto felt arms tighten around him. They felt like Sasuke's arms, so he trusted them to support all of his weight.

"Naruto!" Sasuke said in a firm, but kind of loud tone considering how close he was to Naruto's ear and how much his head hurt.

Naruto squinted his eyes shut in an effort to make the headache go away. It was annoying and the sun wouldn't go off.

"Naruto!" Sasuke said in the same firm, but loud tone.

Said blonde groaned, "I head you, bastard, now shut up and turn off the sun! My friggin' head hurts!"

There was merciful silence, maybe a breath of…relief? But otherwise quiet. That was good.

"Naruto," this time, Sasuke sounded a little relieved. Not as in Uchiha-relief, but as in HUMAN relief!

_That_ made Naruto open his eyes; anything that made Sasuke lose his Uchiha-ness—even for a second—must have been HUGE!

The first thing he saw was Kakashi-Sensei in front of him.

Not making much of it, because Kakashi did not seem to be on the offensive, Naruto turned his head a little, and as he did so, he felt Sasuke's arms slacken because Naruto was placing more of his weight on himself. Why he was leaning against the bastard was beyond him.

But looking beyond Kakashi-Sensei, Naruto saw Lee, but Lee was on the ground holding his arm.

To the side, Naruto saw something else that caught his attention.

Why was Kiba on the ground sleeping?

A little more to the side, Naruto saw something that made him freeze.

He saw Sakura sprawled out on the ground.

Instantly, he knew exactly what had happened.

He must have switched to attack mode.

Horrified by what he must have done, Naruto broke out of Sasuke's arms.

He couldn't be here. He couldn't be around people! He needed to get away!

Fearing what else he might see if he turned around, Naruto ran straight out of the clearing.

* * *

**And that was the chapter!**

**There are some things that some writers do that kinda peeve me so I actively try to avoid. The number one thing that gets to me is when some writers make characters OOC by making them basically girls with penises. I'm not knockin' the stories that do that, sometimes they are just dandy, but whenever I see that I tend to leave the story unless given a reason not to.**

**Another small thing that I don't really hate but just am hyper aware of is when people say 'orbs' instead of 'eyes'. It makes me think they have perpetually open, glassy eyes that are uber creepy, or eyes like in Coreline. You know, the creepy movie with button eyes? Those are what I imagine when people describe eyes as 'orbs' *shudders***

**Anyways, thank you so much to those who review! I updates this instead of a different story for you!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

**So my computer broke down, including my hard drive and all my stories were deleted (as well as personal, sentimental stuff. So very depressing) and as I was transferring all the story chapters I had posted I was all **_**damn**_** 'cause not to toot my own horn but I'm kinda good lol. I also realized that I used to be able to write -3000 word chapters. Oh how those were easier.**

**Anyhoo, onwards with the chapter!**

* * *

Sakura woke to a certain throbbing that immediately told her that she had been knocked out and she was awoken through a healing jutsu.

She sat up and immediately she felt a throbbing pain at the base of her neck.

Looking around, she saw that she was not the only person on the ground; Kiba was lying unconscious on the grass and Lee was conscious, but also on the ground and wincing occasionally as he rubbed his arm.

Sakura was about to stand up so that she could heal their injuries when she felt two hands gently holding onto her shoulders, keeping her from moving. It hurt her neck too much to move, so Sakura twisted her torso so she could see that it was Ino who had her hands on Sakura's shoulders.

With a sad smile—meant to be reassuring, but Sakura could see that it was a forced, professional smile—Ino said, "You should treat your own injury first. I woke you up, but Kiba and Lee need me to heal them more than you do."

Sakura nodded, or at least bent her torso as she would her neck, because she understood perfectly what Ino had meant; Sakura could heal her own injuries just fine so all Ino needed to do was wake her up from whatever had caused her to lose consciousness. Kiba and Lee, however, could not heal themselves so they would need Ino and maybe Sakura if she healed herself in time.

Ino grimaced—her attempt at a smile—as she stood up and hurried over to Lee.

As Sakura watched TenTen and Neji help Lee into a sitting position so Ino could have better access to heal him, she started to heal the base of her neck.

While she healed herself, Sakura scanned the surrounding area.

Her green eyes immediately found Sasuke, whose body was facing the group with his arms crossed but his head was turned to face Kakashi-Sensei was stood in the same position; almost as if they were guarding something. They were both murmuring to each other, but occasionally looking over the training grounds for some reason.

Sakura also saw Hinata and Shino near Kiba, mostly keeping an eye on him but also talking with each other. Hinata seemed very worried about something and kept looking passed Sasuke and Kakashi-Sensei, almost standing up at times, but Shino would shake his head in the negative.

Shikamaru and Chouji most placed themselves near Ino while she healed Lee, either giving her support or simply taking orders. Chouji worriedly kept looking passed Sasuke and Kakashi-Sensei as well, and even Shikamaru seemed a little worried, but wasn't showing any signs other than a small crinkle in his brow.

Sakura was also surprised to see Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon! They seemed rather upset, especially Konohamaru. Moegi had her hand on his shoulder while Udon kept looking from his two friends to Sasuke and Kakashi-Sensei with an expression of fear and worry.

But why? And why was everyone else looking so worried? And why was everyone periodically glancing at Sasuke and Kakashi-Sensei? And why were they in such intimidating positions? Were they guarding something? Or someone?

Wait—were they guarding Naruto? Then where was Naruto?

Then Sakura silently gasped!

NARUTO!

With her neck healed, Sakura frantically scanned the surrounding area for obnoxiously bright blonde hair and an orange sweatshirt.

The last thing she remembered was Konohamaru's repulsive imitation of Naruto's 'Sexy Jutsu' and that she had…taken certain _measures_ to make sure that he understood his mistake.

Then pain at the base of her neck.

Her musings were cut short when she overheard Hinata's shy voice.

"B-but where-where did Naruto go? H-he shouldn't-t be alone righ-right now! N-Not whe-when he h-has fli-flipped like th-that! He-he needs sup-support!" Hinata's voice—while usually meek and quiet—was unusually forceful, despite all of her stutters.

Hinata's outburst caused a chain reaction of multiple debates. People were questioning where Naruto could have gone. Questions like why were they still standing around were asked. But the most frequently asked question was why did Naruto flip back to his 'attack mode' in the first place?

Sakura's head hung with shame; utter, utter shame. She knew why Naruto had flipped.

It was her; Sakura. It was fault. It was all her fault! It was ALWAYS her fault!

SHE was the only who was frequently, if not _constantly_, reminding everyone to be careful around Naruto and to not show any signs of aggression or chakra flairs! Yet SHE was the one who had raised the first fist and set Naruto off!

SHE was the one who had caused all of this! SHE was the one who had hurt Naruto like this!

Naruto had been looking forward to meeting everyone for so long. He never kept it a secret; he had missed his friends. When Sakura had suggested that she arrange for everyone to meet, he had been ecstatic! He had acted exactly like the mentally-sixteen-year-old he was, perhaps even younger.

But when she had explained to him the importance of making sure no one show any signs of aggression or use their chakra, he had shown himself to be growing up mentally to his real age when he had listened intently and let her know that he understood. He had even told her that he trusted her completely and knew that she wouldn't let anything happen.

But she DID! _SHE_ was the one who ruined Naruto's fun. _SHE_ had caused Naruto to switch to 'attack mode'! It was _ALWAYS _Sakura!

Even when Naruto had been controlled, Sakura had set him off! She had been the one to touch him and make him switch to 'attack mode'!

And despite being self-appointed Naruto's personal medic-nin and despite how many times she had warned everyone to the point of being annoying, she had honestly never expected Naruto to flip out during today's therapeutic test meeting!

Sakura had assumed that Naruto would never allow himself to flip out before his friends; he would prove himself to be in perfect physical and mental health despite knowing the exact percentage rate of possible failure of the test—42%.

She had assumed that nothing bad would happen because this was Naruto, and _Naruto_ was Sakura's pillar of strength and determination. As his medic-nin, she should not have allowed herself to fall into that old pattern of thinking when looking over his health.

In the midst of her ignored wallowing in guilt, Sakura heard Konohamaru sniffling up a storm. Looking over, she saw that he was trying his hardest to keep the tears in his eyes from falling.

"Konohamaru?" Moegi asked, her voice was filled with concern, as was her expression.

One of Konohamaru's hands flew to his eyes to unsuccessfully attempt to wipe away the unshed tears.

"What's wrong?" Udon asked, stepping closer to his friend while sending a quick glance to Kakashi-Sensei and Sasuke who were ignoring everyone.

"It's just…it's just…" Konohamaru wiped his nose with his sleeve, "I…I didn't mean for th-this to hap-happen!" he paused to take a few deep breathes to keep himself from stuttering as much as Hinata.

"I mean…" he took another breath and continued while staring at his feet, "this is Naruto's and my tradition! I know you don't think much of it," he looked at Moegi and even met eyes with Sakura before returning to his feet, "but it's always been sacred to us! I…I just wanted to show Naruto that even though his previous team had mistreated him on their two-year long mission and had left him when he was critically injured, there are still people who care about him and that nothing had changed!"

Sakura felt a little confused when she had heard Konohamaru mention a two-year mission, then realized that he was referring to the fabricated story the new council had told the village instead of the truth.

Then she felt an overwhelming surge of guilt.

She hadn't even considered the possibility of the repulsive spectacle being anything more than simply immature! All she could think about was how much SHE hated this particular tradition!

There were no thoughts in her head that the little tradition of theirs could be in any way beneficial! Just that Sakura hated how perverted the whole thing was! And how she thought how disgusting it was. And how much she loathed it when Konohamaru had done one particular sexy jutsu involving Sasuke and Sai…

She had never thought of how much how much Naruto could be comforted by this tradition of theirs.

Of COURSE he would be comforted! Ever since Naruto had woken up from being controlled, all he had wanted was everything to return to normal! How many times had he asked Sakura how much he had to do before he could see his friends again? How many times had he told Tsunade and herself that it was his goal to be able to walk through town again within the next month? How many times had Sakura overheard him ask himself why couldn't he act normal?

And here Konohamaru was giving him what he had craved! All the boy had done was do his usual greeting of that horrid tradition!

But Sakura had ruined it! She had ruined _everything_!

Tears fell from Sakura's eyes. She couldn't help it! All she could think about was Naruto's face right before he had flipped!

His expression was filled with fright. It was as if he _knew_ exactly what Sakura had done!

Tears had turned to sobs. Sakura's hands flew to her face as she broke down crying.

It was her fault! It was all her fault!

"GRAAH! WHERE'S NARUTO?! I GOT A BONE TO PICK WITH THAT GUY!"

Sakura didn't need to look up to know that it was Kiba who had just shouted out. Apparently Ino had healed him and now he was awake.

"K-Kiba!" Hinata's voice cried out.

No doubt she was wringing her hands together. But Sakura didn't look up because she was too busy trying hard to hide her tears despite nobody paying attention.

"WHAT?! I'LL SHOW THAT GUY THAT BEING CONTROLLED DOESN'T MEAN THAT HE CAN ATTACK PEOPLE FOR NO REASON!" Kiba shouted out.

"It wasn't for 'no reason'!" Ino shouted out, reprimanding him.

"He was triggered, if you couldn't tell." Shikamaru drawled, his voice unusually vigorous, "And _you_ were idiotic enough to charge straight at him when he had flipped instead of withholding your chakra like Sasuke and Kakashi told us to."

"Well..uh…" Kiba faltered, but still sounded as if he still wanted to kick Naruto's ass.

"That is quite true. Why? Because Naruto only attacked those who moved and ignored those who stayed still." Shino's voice sounded from somewhere near where Sakura guessed Kiba and Hinata were.

"Well…well…uh…well where is he anyways?" Kiba's voice demanded adamantly.

At this, everyone's voices—even those who were muttering to each other—were silent.

Sakura couldn't handle the silence. The silence meant that they did not know where Naruto was…and it was her fault!

FIRST she gets his hopes up by promising him that he could see his friends. THEN she ignores the very real possibility of Naruto switching to 'attack mode', assuming that he would breeze passed this test despite how many times she had warned everybody to not show any signs of violence. NEXT she does the exact opposite of what she had warned and started to attack Konohamaru! And THEN she had caused Naruto to switch to his 'attack mode' again!

Sakura's sobs renewed; getting louder and she didn't care.

Why? WHY couldn't she help Naruto? Why couldn't she _ever_ help Naruto?

All she ever did was cause him pain!

Even back when they were kids all she ever did was cause him pain! She constantly teased him; even outright telling him that he was useless! When they joined a team, she wasn't any better! When she wasn't ignoring him, she was wishing that he had never even existed because she considered him nothing more than a nuisance in her way and was very vocal about her opinion of him.

And when they finally became friends, instead of mentally hurting, she had graduated to getting him hurt physically! She always—_always_—depended on Naruto and Sasuke to protect her! Sasuke only protected her out of necessity and survival, but Naruto had gone above and beyond that! Naruto always put Sakura's protection and desires above his own, so when she wasn't getting him hurt physically, she was stressing him out mentally!

When Naruto had returned from his two year training period with Jiraiya, Sakura had thought that she wouldn't cause him any more pain…but she was _still_ depending on Naruto! She had fallen into the habit of assuming that Naruto would be able to overcome any obstacle! If there was any trouble or problem, she would depend on Naruto to fix it!

And after Naruto had defeated Pain, all he had wanted was a simple rest.

But she had told Naruto to _hurry_ to go to the elders and to get controlled!

So after Sasuke had saved Naruto, she had promised herself that she would never cause Naruto any more pain; that she would always be there to support _him_ and make sure _his_ needs and desires were met!

But she couldn't even do that!

She, _SAKURA_, had caused this! _SAKURA _had caused Naruto to switch to his 'attack mode'! _SAKURA_ had caused him all of this pain.

She _always_ caused him pain!

Suddenly, Sakura saw that she was in somebody's shadow.

Looking up with her teary eyes, she saw the blurred outline of who she thought was Sasuke.

"S-Sa-Sasuke?" she asked, trying to make sure that the blur she saw really was her former and hopefully future teammate.

"Stop crying." The blur spoke with Sasuke's voice; cold and dispassionate.

It took her a moment to truly register what Sasuke had said.

Touched, because she was assuming that this was Sasuke's way of showing that he cared, Sakura made an effort to stop crying. She took deep, calming breathes, and wiped her eyes with her jacket's sleeve with vigor.

When she could see Sasuke rather than his blurry outline, Sakura stopped wiping her eyes and started to wipe her hands instead.

"Stop feeling sorry for yourself." Sasuke ordered as he turned away from her.

Sakura gasped. How…how could Sasuke say that? Did he really not care about her? Did he still consider her to be the same thirteen year old girl that declared her love to him as a desperate plea for him to stay in the village? Was she still worth nothing to him?

Tears started to flow from her eyes once more. But before she could say anything to defend herself, Sasuke spoke once more.

But instead of speaking to Sakura again, he directed his orders for everyone as a whole, "Stop asking useless questions and leave Naruto alone."

"And why will we do that, Uchiha?" Neji demanded back, sounding somewhere from behind Sakura. She could no longer tell where people were positioned as her hands were burying her face again to unsuccessfully hide her tears.

She felt two hands place themselves comfortingly on her shoulders, then heard Lee's voice say, "Yes! Naruto is our very good friend and we shall not abandon him in his time of need!"

"Who made you Queen of the world?" TenTen spat, obviously intending to insult Sasuke as much as she could.

"What the hell, Sasuke?! First you make Sakura cry, then you become even MORE of a complete ASS and tell us to leave Naruto alone?!" Kiba shouted.

"Were you not threatening to hurt Naruto should you find him?" Shino asked.

"DAMMIT, THAT'S NOT THE POINT, SHINO!" Kiba shouted even louder in response.

"Th-that's right-t," Hinata stuttered, "we-we are N-Naruto's frie-friends. Why sh-should we l-leave him alo-alone wh-when h-he needs-s us m-most?"

Sakura looked up at this.

Hinata was right: Naruto needed them. And she would _not_ wallow and cry. Not when Naruto needed her.

Sakura placed her hand on Lee's and gave him a watery, appreciative smile as a silent thanks.

She then turned so that she could glare at Sasuke and defy him to keep her from Naruto, but when she saw Sasuke she flinched back.

Sasuke was standing close to Kakashi-Sensei—who was wearing an indecipherable expression behind his mask—and was glaring at them.

Practically everyone in the training grounds flinched, except for Kakashi-Sensei, because it did not matter if they were an Inuzuka or a Hyuuga, the Uchiha Glare was very intimidating.

…The only people who could withstand an Uchiha Glare aimed at them were Uchihas, and Naruto.

But…the all of the Uchihas besides Sasuke were dead, and Naruto wasn't here and Sasuke was telling everyone to leave him alone!

Anger renewed, Sakura sent her own weak glare Sasuke's way.

She must not have been the only one to have glared at Sasuke, because his intensified.

Once again, Sakura flinched.

Then Sasuke spoke again, "Ever since regaining consciousness, Naruto has been pushing himself far beyond his limits. Especially in the past month. He's just been a time bomb at his breaking point."

At this, Sakura was speechless. Had Naruto really been pushing himself passed his limit?

Here she was, his personal medic-nin, and she hadn't even realized that he was pushing himself so hard! She was supposed to be his best female friend, but she had no idea that Naruto was at his breaking point.

Instead, she was a freaking _IDIOT_ and had moronically assumed that Naruto was breezing through his therapy—despite obvious struggles when people would approach him—because he was Naruto and could push passed every obstacle in his way.

Why couldn't she be a good enough medic-nin to know when someone is pushing themselves passed their limits? Why couldn't she be a good enough _friend_ to know Naruto was at his breaking point?!

Sasuke continued talking, though, and interrupted Sakura's thoughts, "The only thing that everyone here did was keep this contained so that he switch to his 'attack mode' sooner rather than later and around ninja rather than around the villagers."

He then turned his head to the side so that he wasn't looking at everyone and said in a softer tone, "And Naruto would thank all of you for that."

At Sasuke's words, Sakura felt a wave of relief.

It wasn't her fault. It wasn't her _fault_. It _wasn't_ her fault. It wasn't _her_ fault!

Immediately following her relief was a wave of guilt.

Even _IF_ Naruto would thank them like Sasuke had said he would, that would not take away the fact that Sakura had been the one to set him off, and that even if Naruto was nearing his breaking point, then he could have safely flipped out when they started training in therapy!

And if Naruto thanked them, then it would only prove that once again Naruto was being way too kind than what everyone—Sakura—deserved.

Along with the guilt, she felt a wave of shame.

It was beyond disgraceful that even though she had JUST told herself that she would be stronger than this, she was STILL relying on either Naruto—like in the past and now—Sasuke to alleviate the pain and blame from herself.

Sakura knew that Sasuke did not bother trying to comfort anyone, and she knew that Naruto had more than enough problems to be worried about her comparatively insignificant worries.

She should not be relying on either of them to alleviate her guilt! _ESPECIALLY_ when she KNEW that it was all her fault!

She did not deserve to be comforted, yet she yearned for it and relied on Sasuke and Naruto, and even Kakashi-Sensei, to tell her that whatever she was feeling guilty about was not her fault.

Ino's voice, sounding hesitant, rang through Sakura's musings, "How…how do you know that Naruto would thank us? I mean…he…he looked so…_devastated_!"

Sakura flinched when she heard Ino say that Naruto looked devastated.

It was one thing to think it to herself…but a completely different thing to hear it confirmed out loud…

She saw Sasuke turn to her and say, "Because the usuratonkachi would never have forgiven himself if he had hurt an innocent villager. He'll feel terrible about hurting his friends, but will ultimately realize that his friends will understand and be much better able to protect themselves than the villagers."

Sasuke spoke in with a technicality as if he was describing a client for a mission, but Sakura could hear the affection in Sasuke's voice when he called Naruto an 'usuratonkachi'.

She would also swear that she saw something glimmer in his eyes…

And she was immediately hit by a wave of jealousy.

How many times had she yearned for some level of affection attached to _her_ name? How many times had she dreamed of seeing a glimmer in Sasuke's eyes when he thought of _her_?

But then Sakura was swept away by an overwhelming wave of guilt.

Of COURSE Sasuke would never hold such affections for _HER_! Because Sasuke and Naruto were soul mates! They belonged together!

Plus, Naruto deserved Sasuke's affection and love _way_ more than Sakura did.

Both Naruto and Sasuke had been alone from such a young age, and have had to suffer so much. They had found solace in each other and later love.

All _she_ had 'gone through' was all self-inflicted self-doubt and self-inflicted unrequited love. It would be insulting to compare her 'sufferings' to what Sasuke and Naruto have had to go through.

They both deserved to find true love in each other, and Naruto definitely deserved to have Sasuke's love.

Naruto deserved someone who had faced the threat of execution to return to him. Naruto deserved someone who would be able to understand him, or at least someone who knew they couldn't understand and would not push to. Naruto deserved someone who would, and wanted to, take care of him.

Naruto deserved Sasuke.

Sakura's thoughts were once again interrupted by Sasuke.

"I know where Naruto went, and I'm going to go to him. We'll set up another meeting some other time soon." Once he had finished speaking, he nodded to Kakashi-Sensei and then disappeared.

"Wait—!"

"Sasuke—!"

"Hold on—!"

"Come back—!"

"Where did he go?"

"SASUKE—!"

Multiple voices called for Sasuke, or for him to wait for them. Then, people started rounding onto Kakashi-Sensei who sighed and explained, "Sasuke explained that he knew where Naruto went to calm down. Naruto has only told Sasuke and Iruka-Sensei and wished to keep it that way."

Sakura could see in some people's expressions—and was sure the expression was mirrored in her face—that they were wondering where Naruto could have gone and why he did not tell them where this was.

But Kakashi-Sensei continued before anyone could voice these questions, "Sasuke has also pointed out that since Naruto had just switched to his 'attack mode' so recently, that he would not be able to handle more than one person getting close to him."

Sakura could see that some people were close to protesting—especially Konohamaru and his two friends who had utterly confused expressions on their faces and looked eager for answers—and wanted to at least give Sasuke as much uninterrupted comforting time as she could, quickly stood up.

Finding her voice, she said in a voice a little louder than usual, "Understood. Naruto would be unable to handle more than one person entering his extended three-to-five meter radius after flipping out. Sasuke is the only one who can get close to Naruto without him flipping out."

She then turned around and made her way to leave the training grounds.

Sakura could hear voices asking questions behind her, but ignored them and continued on her way.

Hopefully, they would take her word and leave Sasuke and Naruto alone. It would only be logical. After all, Sakura _was_ Naruto's personal medic-nin! They all knew that she had been with Naruto every step of his recovery and they would now that she knew exactly what she was talking about.

She _really_ hoped that they would follow her example and leave.

Sakura was making another vow—right there and then—that she would _not_ cause any more problems for Naruto and for Sasuke. She would no longer rely on either of them, and she would no longer be the cause of Naruto's pain.

She would be strong.

For Naruto.

* * *

**And that was the chapter!**

**When I write from a Sakura POV, I keep wondering to myself if I am getting across how much more emotional she is rather than Sasuke or even Naruto, or if it just comes across as her whining…**

**Anyways, something kinda funny happened with my psychology class. So first of all, I am an insomniac. It is genetic and I can't take pills. And even when I try sleep-aides, it helps me **_**fall**_** asleep, but messes up my sleep cycle and does nothing to help me **_**stay**_** asleep.**

**Why explain that? Great question! It is because a little while back, my insomnia was acting up, so I wasn't falling asleep until 4-ish. Around 3-ish, I texted a friend in the same class to not wait up for me and to not ask if I am up since my psychology class is an 8am, and I would be trying to catch up on sleep because of my insomnia and not skipping for the sake of relaxation.**

**She said that she understood, and for some reason, when she told my professor that I would not be coming in that day, when the professor asked why, instead of simply saying I wasn't feeling well, she told my professor the truth. Funnily enough, my professor laughed a little because I was in fact skipping the lesson about sleep disorders. I was let off because I obviously know all about that particular lesson.**

**Anyhoo, thank you to those who favorite/alert this story. And an extra special thanks with cookies for those who review! Reviews are my muse's cookies.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**I went to a private high school that required uniforms. But now that I'm in college, I am free to show my holiday spirit through my eccentric clothes! Oh the fun! During December—actually starting November 16, as per Christmas radio tradition—I dress up only in holiday colors and clothes! Bwahahaa, my new roommates and some newer friends THINK that they know the extent of my holiday cheer because I kept telling them how excited I am about Christmas songs, the decorations, traditions, Santa…but since the majority of my holiday clothing is at home, before Thanksgiving break, there is only so much I can do. Plus, I'm considerate of those who vehemently defend that the Christmas Season starts AFTER Thanksgiving.**

**Mwahaha, my ignorant friends have yet to realize just how far my Seasons Greetings goes.**

**Anyhoo, onwards with the chapter!**

* * *

Naruto ran.

He ran and ran and kept running until he could feel his lungs burning from breathing so hard.

He couldn't believe what had just happened. It shouldn't have happened! It couldn't have happened!

That did not just happen. He had been so careful!

It couldn't have happened! EVERYONE had been careful! They even doubled his meter radius!

He even went over all of the exit strategies!

When Naruto had gotten as far as Hokage Mountain, Naruto knew that it was not enough distance.

He needed to be further away; away from other people.

To keep everyone safe from himself.

Naruto cast a glance behind him to make sure he wasn't followed, then proceeded to jump up the mountain side using familiar paths he had found as a child.

He naturally pumped chakra though his leg muscles so he could get to the top faster and distance himself from the innocent villagers.

It wasn't until he was on top of the Fourth Hokage's head did he remember that he wasn't supposed to be using chakra yet like he automatically did as he scaled the Hokage Mountain.

He crumpled down on his father's head, his head in his hands.

How could he have been so stupid?! He had JUST flipped out into his 'attack mode' and yet here he was, using chakra all over the place willy-nilly.

Naruto groaned and rhythmically pounded his fist against his forehead.

Why? Why?! WHY did he have to flip out?

Why did he have to become that…that…that _MONSTER_ and attack his friends?!

He always knew that there was the possibility that he could flip out…but those odds were _supposed_ to be as slim as Sasuke dancing in a tutu!

This wasn't even a proper trial test! They had tried that with Shizune and then later with Kakashi and he had been fine! Hell, he had been _MORE_ than fine! He made that trial test his bitch!

So why the hell did he flip out?

Naruto's arms hung limp when he realized the answer.

It was him. _HE_ himself was the reason he had flipped out.

It was because he was so damn _weak_.

In his blond head, all he could see were the faces of his friends after he came to himself.

He saw their fear. He saw their dread that he would flip instantaneously again. He even saw raw _betrayal_.

Every face he saw with one of those expressions was like a blow to the gut that even Pein couldn't match; because he knew without a doubt that _HE_ had caused those expressions on his friends' faces.

Naruto stared, unseeing, at his beloved village. The village he had so much pride for, the village that he would die fighting for, the village he wanted to protect with everything he had…

He turned away, clenching his limp hands into fists.

How could he protect his village from danger, when it was HE who _was_ the danger?!

Naruto sighed dejectedly and stared at the stone he was sitting on; one of the spikes of his father's hair.

'_What would Dad have done in this situation?_' Naruto asked himself, rubbing a hand against his father's stone head as if the action would somehow help him feel more connected to the deceased Hokage.

He stopped rubbing the stone as he realized, '_He probably wouldn't have gotten himself controlled in the first place._'

Naruto buried his head in his hands again; would he ever be able to get passed what had happened to him?!

He had _thought_ that he had been doing extremely well with his therapy! So why in the hell did this happen?

* * *

Mitokado Homura was observing outside of a window of his and Koharu Utatane's new _forced_ residence, or—as Tsunade had so quaintly called it—their 'isolation cabin' at the edge of the Hokage Monument.

He had looked outside by chance, searching for a distraction from the large amount of nothing he and Utatane had to endure. Tsunade had told them with ill-concealed glee to consider this as a simple retirement; a _forced_ retirement.

Their isolated cabin was equipped with an assortment of books, puzzles of sorts, many cans of paint with different sizes of brushes and multiple easels, tools for woodcarving, multiple windows to enjoy the idyllic scenery, and even a spacious yard with a garden and small pond. They had 'everything they would need to entertain themselves'; except interaction with anyone else besides each other with the exception of them being able to send messages for requests. However, they were rarely allowed to get responses.

But by chance, Homura looked out of the window that overlooked the Hokage Monument and saw someone sitting atop Namikaze's spiky head. Taking a closer look, he saw that it was it was actually the man's son; the jinchuuriki.

"Koharu," Homura called out to his roommate. The jinchuuriki was certainly not have been the ideal means of distraction, but at this point, almost _anyone_ would do, as it was easy to tell.

It took a little while, as Utatane was reading an old historic scroll and thus needed to carefully refold it. When she joined Homura at the window, all it took as a small head gesture for her to see what he had called her over for.

"Look at that _monster_," Utatane scathed as she saw the Kyuubi jinchuuriki, "sitting there without a care I the world"

Homura responded in the same tone, "That _thing_ is a danger to the village and should not be unsupervised."

"Where is its keeper?" Utatane asked, her eyes searching the mountain for anyone else, but all the two former high elders could see was mountainside and the jinchuuriki with its head in its hands.

Homura scoffed, "The jinchuuriki must have escaped; the security surrounding it _was_ always disgracefully relaxed." Honestly, Tsunade and even Sarutobi had far too much 'trust' in the monster. They seemed to truly believe that the jinchuuriki held no ulterior motives other than to protect the village. The Kyuubi's host most likely tricked them.

Luckily, Homura and Utatane were never veiled from the truth. The Nine-Tailed Demon Fox's host was and always has been a menace as well as a necessary danger to the village. They were well aware of the need to keep such a danger inside the village: to keep an ultimate weapon to both prevent and respond to threats of war.

Though understanding the need to keep such a danger inside the village did not make them _accept_—or even _thankful towards_ as Sarutobi had once put it—to the demon host.

Utatane spoke up and said, "It is such an ignominy for the village that they allow the jinchuuriki to roam wherever it pleases. What if it defaces the Monument?"

Homura nodded in agreement. They both remembered how the demon host used to graffiti not only the Monument, but also the entire village. Yet more proof that it was a disgrace and a menace to the village.

"It is all _its_ fault!" Utatane suddenly exclaimed, turning away from the window for a moment, "_IT_ is the reason we have been forced into isolation and the village is falling."

"The village already _has_ fallen," Homura corrected, glaring at the menace sitting on the Monument, "and it is all that _monster's_ fault."

Utatane nodded, still not looking back out the window, "Yes, IT _is_ the reason the village was destroyed and needed to be rebuilt."

"IT had also poisoned Sarutobi's mind and blinded him to the reality of the danger of leaving IT unchecked and allowing IT to roam free around the village." Homura scathed.

Utatane pointed out, "IT has also turned Tsunade against us and made her obstinate against their true leadership."

Homura sighed, almost wistfully as he too turned away from the window and that filth atop the monument, "The village had such potential until IT was made into the Kyuubi's host."

Utatane nodded beside him, "Yes, even though Kushina was most definitely a handful, she was manageable."

"Especially after Minato too control over her," Homura noted, "there was much less acting out and she understood her role."

"The village used to be proud; the strongest village of the nations." Utatane reminisced, "We were both revered and feared."

Homura nodded and hummed in agreement. A small smiled graced his lips as he remembered the glory days; how the daimyo would not only compliment their leadership, but followed their every word as ne knew that it was because of his and Utatane's, along with Danzo and Sarutobi's, leadership over the village. Other prominent leaders also came to them, offering them exclusive gifts and favors in return for any needed protection from threats should they decide if the threat is credible because of their influence.

"…and then IT was born." Utatane's voice darkened as they both remembered how they were torn away from the glory days.

When IT was born, the Kyuubi had escaped the original seal, causing not only Kushina's and Minato's death, but also Sarutobi's wife, Biwako.

"Ever since IT was born and became the new Kyuubi host, the village has fallen." Homura turned back to the window, glaring at the monster sitting on the Monument.

"Sarutobi should have listened to Danzo and kept him contained so it could be kept away from the villagers unless it was needed." Utatane said sharply as she too turned back to the window.

Homura's expression darkened as he remembered how Sarutobi had refused that ideal plan, based on 'humanitarian reasons' as he had claimed.

Because of that decision made by Sarutobi, the monster was allowed free in the village. During the first years, the village was able to run mostly smoothly, despite ITS hijinks and constant menacing around. To think, Sarutobi had said that Minato had wanted it to be considered a _hero_. It was a good thing that Utatane and Komura had foreseen its TRUE nature and had prevented such a status to the unworthy monster.

Things were made even worse when Sarutobi was killed by Orochimaru. Komura and Utatane had tried to install Jiraiya as the new Hokage, hopeful that he would be so overwhelmed by all the responsibilities that he would rely on Utatane and Homura and they would remain in control. But instead, IT had gone with Jiraiya and had tricked Tsunade into becoming Hokage, even though he and Utatane were sure that she would refuse.

When Tsunade had been instated as the Fifth Hokage, the demon host had poisoned HER mind as well. Then he drove the last Uchiha from the village and corrupted him away from the village's control so he would not be molded as Homura and Utatane had intended.

They had thought that there was a reprieve when Jiraiya had taken the monster away from the village. If it were up to Homura, Utatane, and Danzo, then the demon host would simply be contained like originally planned; but with it away from the village, they had a chance to return Konoha to its former glory.

But when the vessel returned, things only went worse. It made the village appear weak by creating an _alliance_ with Suna, rather than keeping the terms of their surrender from years before and giving Suna leverage over Konoha. And it failed to get rid of Orochimaru or even return Uchiha to the village's control. And even gotten the village destroyed by bringing the Akatsuki to Konoha.

Homura and Utatane had _tried_ to regain control of everything and instate Danzo as Hokage, but Tsunade had woken up within a week and the Jounin and voted for her immediately even though the formal vote between Hokage candidates had yet to occur and thus kicking Danzo out of office.

In an attempt to return the village to its glory while it was being rebuilt, Homura and Utatane had used a special jutsu to control the monster.

Under the care of its teammate from Root, their plan had worked flawlessly. The jinchuuriki was out of the village's way while they maneuvered their way to more prominent positions in decisions for Konoha, and the Root member's team with _it_ was eliminating threats.

But the demon host couldn't even let THAT stay perfect. The Uchiha had decided to interfere, apparently for the sake of the monster.

And once the plan was ruined, Homura and Utatane were not only forced out of their positions, but also forced to 'retire early' and sentenced to this 'isolation cabin'. Not only that, but now _IT_ was now apparently allowed to roam free around the village and cursing Konoha with its presence.

_IT_ was causing the village's continuous downfall.

Looking down at Utatane, Homura said with determination in his voice, "We need free the village from the Kyuubi host's clutch."

Returning his gaze, Utatane replied with the same determination, "Agreed. It is up to us to return the village to its former glory."

Homura glared to the side and scoffed. Even though they both knew exactly what the village needed—or _did not_ need—and were best suited for leading the village, he and Utatane no longer had any substantial power over Tsunade or the village. They were isolated from the village here atop the Cliffside of the Hokage Monument and without any means of real communication aside from messages they could occasionally send for requests.

As if reading his mind, Utatane said, "But unfortunately, we cannot do anything."

She turned back to the window. Following her lead, Homura also turned back to the window and held back a scoff when he saw the jinchuuriki still sitting on the Fourth Hokage's head.

Then Utatane spoke once more, "...But Danzo could be the one who restores Konoha."

"With our help, of course." Homura added, catching on quickly.

"Of course." Utatane answered, as if offended that Homura needed to say that aloud at all.

They both looked out of the window, each imagining how glorious their return to power would be with Danzo leading the village.

"Danzo really is the only one who can do restore the village to its proper power." Utatane commented to Homura.

"He should have been Hokage." Homura replied in turn.

Utatane nodded, "It is a shame that Tsunade had to wake up so soon, or the Uchiha really had captured the Hachibi and Cloud needed Konoha's assistance."

Homura hummed in agreement. Then, as he observed the jinchuuriki with distaste, he realized something.

"The Kyuubi vessel _could_ be used to our advantage." Homura said to the other with a trace of excitement in his voice.

"How so?" Utatane asked with disbelief in her own voice.

"We could teach Danzo the control jutsu allow him to use the jinchuuriki as we did." Homura explained.

Utatane considered the thought before saying, almost reluctantly, "The village _was_ generally protected while the jinchuuriki was under our control."

"Exactly," Homura said, "and once we teach Danzo the technique, we will gain better standing in power."

"You don't believe that we won't get those positions regardless?" Utatane asked.

Homura shrugged noncommittally, "It is just a way to ensure our positions rather than merely expect."

Utatane nodded as they both fell into a relaxed silence as they imagined just how wonderful the future will be with them once again in power. Then, Utatane scoffed.

"Look. There's the Uchiha."

Homura searched the Monument quickly until he saw that it was indeed the Uchiha walking towards the direction of the jinchuuriki.

"Probably on his way to that monster." Homura said with his disgust clear in his tone.

Utatane glared, her eyes narrowing even more than usual, "It is such a waste. The Uchiha should be marrying so the village can preserve its hold over the Sharingan."

"He should not have been allowed in the village if it had been known that he would consort with _that monster_." Homura sneered.

"And yet another example of how the vessel is poisoning the village." Utatane spat as she turned away from the window. She then left the room, intent, Homura knew, to distract herself from the filth she refused to acknowledge, on returning to her history scroll and planning out ways to improve the village and imagining herself free from this confinement.

Homura, too, turned away from the window; but not before closing the window. He did not even want to think about the aberrant and immoral actions that were sure to happen between the Uchiha and the fox demon vessel once the Uchiha reached the monster.

Homura's time could be better spent writing a sealed message to send Danzo with their plan for Konoha.

* * *

**And that was the chapter.**

**I am excited! I finally finished the outline for this story! I knew exactly where I wanted to go with the story, but it helps so much to have it all written down. Haha, not like other stories where I am basically writing as I go. With those, I know the general idea of what I want in the chapter, and have the entire story in my head, but details get added in or left out when I don't write them down and the chapters either become super long or super short; mostly the former as I keep adding so much extra to those stories. Maybe that's why I have trouble writing one-shots…**

**But I digress; please review and lemme know what you think/want with the story!**

**And thank you to those who favorite/subscribe! And an even bigger thanks to those who review! I love you, man.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**I wrote the first half during finals week, then took a break to write my Christmas one-shot **_**Lost Christmas Spirit**_**, and now it is late at night on Christmas Eve, so let's see how quickly I can write the second half.**

**Onwards with the chapter!**

* * *

Sasuke did not need to search many places to know where Naruto had gone to after running away from everyone.

Naruto would be even wearier of people than before, so he would stay far away from where multitudes of people could get near him; or even just a few people. So that ruled out anywhere within the heart of the village like Hokage Tower or that ramen stand he loved so much.

That essentially left the outskirts of the village, like where their house was located. So Sasuke quickly went to check their home, but there was no sign that Naruto had gone there or was still there. So that only left one option.

Hokage Monument.

Sasuke had immediately rushed over to the Monument as soon as he knew that the house was empty because he remembered that Naruto had once told him that that was where he would escape to as a child whenever he had felt overwhelmed and needed to be alone. Naruto had even told him that he would specifically sit on the Fourth Hokage's head because that was where he felt the calmest and that it apparently had the best view of the village; which he used to set everything in proportion or to remind himself of his dream.

When he reached the base of the mountain, he briefly looked up and could not see Naruto. Not that it deterred him because he knew that he would have felt more frightened for his love had he been able to see Naruto close to the edge because that would have meant that Naruto was close enough to jump off the mountainside.

The Uchiha quickly scaled up the side of the mountain; using more time and chakra than expected because he could not find a proper path to follow.

When he reached the top he had activated his Sharingan to search for Naruto. He then saw Naruto curled up on top of the Fourth Hokage's head.

Looking at the blonde, Sasuke briefly wondered if the reason that Naruto had felt the calmest on the Yondaime's head as a child because on some primal level he knew that the Fourth Hokage was his father.

Sasuke deactivated his Sharingan and shielded his chakra in case Naruto was feeling particularly sensitive of chakra and on the chance that Sasuke's chakra could 'activate' Naruto again.

He made his way somewhat slowly across the mountain so that he could comfort his love.

Looking at Naruto, it was easy to see that the blonde was distressed and was blaming himself for what had happened. He was sitting on the Yondaime's head with his knees up to his chin and his hands covering his hanging head. Sasuke could have sworn that he saw a tremble or two.

When he reached Naruto, Sasuke sat down next to Naruto and waited for a few moments. He wanted Naruto to realize that Sasuke was there for him no matter what and that Naruto needn't have to speak right away. Even though Sasuke badly wanted to hold Naruto in his arms and kiss the fears and troubles away, he knew that was not what Naruto needed or even wanted. Naruto would most appreciate Sasuke sitting by his side, so that was what Sasuke would do.

They sat together for a little while more before Sasuke spoke up.

"It is not your fault, you know." Sasuke said in a quiet tone.

Naruto moved a little, but did not move from his position, nor did he remove his hands from his face.

So Sasuke tried again, "No one blames you." He said in a stronger voice as he turned to face Naruto.

Naruto's head sprung up from his hands so he could look at Sasuke in disbelief. But the expression faded into despair once more as he looked away and mumbled, "Yes they do."

Sasuke shook his head slightly and said, "No, they don't."

"Well they should!" Naruto almost shouted as he turned almost completely away from Sasuke.

The Uchiha took a risk and placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder and demanded, "Why?! Why should your friends blame you for something out of your control?"

Naruto roughly shrugged Sasuke's hand off his shoulder and turned to face Sasuke, angrily shouting, "BECAUSE IT'S MY FAULT!"

Before Sasuke could refute the statement, Naruto continued, "This all happened because I am too damn weak! I couldn't stop being controlled in the first place, and now I can't even stop myself from flipping out! People SHOULD blame me! _I_ was the one who flipped out on them! _I_ was the one who hurt Lee and Kiba and—" Naruto seemed to choke on his words for a second before burying his head back into his hands as he tearfully mumbled, "—and I hurt Sakura…_again_!" as he trembled, attempting to hold back tears.

Sasuke allowed Naruto a few moments to pull himself back together before saying, "This was actually a blessing in disguise."

Naruto unburied his hands so that he could give Sasuke a watery glare.

"Why the _hell_ would you say something like that?" the blonde growled, obviously not agreeing with what Sasuke was saying.

Undeterred, Sasuke remained eye contact with Naruto's glare and explained, "This was a good thing that you snapped because now we know some of your limits. You have no trouble being around people again, or even a large number of people at once. Chakra did not seem to be a factor as the brat used some of his chakra when he transformed into that…_unique_ jutsu of yours…" Naruto's glare lessened at the description Sasuke had used for the sexy jutsu.

"…and you had only snapped when Sakura showed signs of violence." Sasuke concluded, "We learned a lot today, which was the point of this test."

Naruto's expression told Sasuke that the blonde remained unimpressed at his argument and still disagreed with him.

So Sasuke continued, "And it really was best that you snapped around ninja, especially your friends."

Naruto got angry with that statement and exploded, "WHY THE _HELL_ WOULD _THAT_ BE CONSIDERED A GOOD THING?!"

"Because since you snapped while surrounded by ninja only, there was absolutely no chance that an innocent bystander would get hurt." Sasuke replied calmly, knowing that that was one of Naruto's worst fears.

What Sasuke had said affected Naruto enough to calm him down, and had made Naruto seemingly more willing to listen to the rest of Sasuke's argument.

"And it was best that you snapped around your friends because they understand your condition and know that you cannot control when or when you do not snap."

Naruto looked like he was going to debate with Sasuke, but the Uchiha continued speaking before the blonde got the chance, "Your friends also knew why you are in such a condition and will not ask questions. The rest of the village believes that while you were on that _fucking_ _bastard's _ANBU squad, you were critically injured and the rest of your team had left you for dead, so they were arrested while you resigned from the ANBU. They do not know about what really happened, and would not understand why you snapped and would also ask incessant questions."

Naruto looked at Sasuke fearfully, so he quickly injected, "We would have never let them know, and Tsunade would most definitely put a stop to their questions, but it would have been annoying."

Naruto nodded to himself slightly before turning to face the view of the village.

Sasuke waited for a few moments, then deemed it safe enough to situate himself a little closer to Naruto. Then he carefully placed his arm around Naruto's shoulders before tilting the blonde a little so that Naruto was leaning on him.

He gave an internal smirk of victory to himself and tilted his own head so that he was resting it against Naruto's blond head.

The two remained like this for a little while. Neither spoke as they gazed upon their village, each in their own world but still linked to each other.

Then, quietly, Naruto mumbled almost to himself, "I just…"

Sasuke said nothing and waited patiently for Naruto to continue.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto said quietly, "I just thought that I was finally passed all this, you know? I really thought that I could just hang out with my friends after so long."

Sasuke gave an internal sympathetic sigh. He had wished for the same thing too, especially since Naruto was so excited at the prospect of seeing those who were worried about him the most.

The Uchiha patted Naruto's shoulder and gave him a little squeeze; a silent Uchiha way of communicating his sympathy.

Naruto leaned into Sasuke's squeeze, making Sasuke almost raise his eyebrows and smile with joy. But he was an Uchiha, so he quickly reined his emotions. He did, however, test out how far he could take this by wrapping his other arm around Naruto so he was hugging him.

Naruto had accepted this and did not even try to resist!

Filled with a newfound confidence, Sasuke started to prepare himself to kiss his love.

Maybe he should kiss Naruto abruptly and whisk all of the blonde's worries away in a sea of pleasure? Wait—Naruto was still vulnerable from having flipped out so recently, which made the opportunity all the greater but the consequences all the more dire…_especially_ if he caught Naruto completely off guard and he accidentally flips into 'attack mode' again!

But Naruto was right there! In Sasuke's ARMS! They were on Hokage Monument looking at the most beautiful scenery Konoha had to offer! The moment was PERFECT!

If Sasuke was going to kiss Naruto, he was going to do this NOW, and he was going to do this RIGHT. All he had to do was slowly place his hand underneath Naruto's chin and guide him so that he was facing Sasuke. Then, Sasuke would lean down—slowly enough to give Naruto enough time to realize what Sasuke was doing and to warn him if something was seriously wrong, but not enough time for Naruto to chicken out of this kiss by claiming that they were not yet boyfriends even though they essentially were—and kiss Naruto softly. He would not use his tongue…_yet_. That would be moving too fast for Naruto, and even though it would be near torture for Sasuke, he would respect that of his usuratonkachi.

Sasuke was about to enact on his plan when Naruto shifted so that he was no longer in Sasuke's arms.

CURSES! HE WAS _SO_ CLOSE!

Sasuke was too busy cursing the world and asking the gods why they hated him so that he did not pay attention to what Naruto was saying.

When he realized that Naruto had just spoken, Sasuke felt the tiniest inkling of the Uchiha form of embarrassment, but not real 'embarrassment' because Uchihas do not experience such cheap emotions.

He was about to ask Naruto to repeat himself when Naruto elaborated himself, misunderstanding Sasuke's silence.

"I really don't wanna risk running into anyone out here or on the way going home when there are more people walking around, so can we _please_ go?"

Sasuke was about to nod and agree yes—anything to remove such a sad face from his usuratonkachi's normally happy face—when he got an idea.

"We could try again." Sasuke suggested.

The despair left Naruto's expression and was replaced by confusion, "Eh?"

"We can try again." Sasuke repeated, "We can get some people together again so that you can visit your friends. We'll have less people to be on the same side, and will definitely enforce rules for no chakra and absolutely no signs of violence, but we can try again."

Naruto perked up right away as his face split into a huge, excited grin.

"REALLY?!" He shouted, jumping up into a standing position, his whole demeanor radiating happiness once again.

Sasuke stood up as well and said, "Yes."

Naruto let out and exclamation of excitement and wrapped his arms around Sasuke, chanting, "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!"

Sasuke grinned as Naruto shouted out one last, "THANK YOU!"

He wrapped his arms around Naruto for another hug and whispered, "You're welcome."

Naruto allowed the hug to last for another moment or two—far too quickly for Sasuke's tastes—before backing up a step and asking, "Do you think we can try again tomorrow?" his voice and expression full of excitement.

Sasuke allowed a grin and nodded his head yes.

Naruto's eyes lit up as he shouted out, "YES!" while pumping his fists in the air.

Then Naruto surprised them both by pulling Sasuke into a hug and kissing him briefly on the lips.

Sasuke's eyes widened in the pause that followed as Naruto quickly removed himself from Sasuke and flushed harder than when Sasuke had originally told Naruto how he loves him in the hospital.

Stuttering, Naruto said, "S-so le-let's-s g-g-go-go back-ck h-h-home n-now…o-okay?" while attempting to calm himself down.

Sasuke could only nod, still slightly in shock that Naruto would do what Sasuke had planned in a moment of impulsive haste.

Naruto nodded his own head in response and then took off for the opposite side of the mountain so he could take the easiest and fastest way down.

Sasuke recovered quickly, smirked, and followed his usuratonkachi; determined to finish what they had started once he was able to catch hold of his Naruto.

* * *

Danzo was not happy with the hand that he was dealt in life.

He was not banished, per say, and was technically still aloud to be a part of the council as well as remain head of the Root division of the ANBU; but he only retained one of those privileges. As it stood in present times, Danzo was no more than a remnant of the old days when himself, the elders, and Sarutobi ran the village.

Ever since that Akatsuki member, Pain, had attacked the village, things had not been the same. Somehow, word got out of how he had dispatched of the messenger frog that was supposed to send for the jinchuuriki from its hiding place. Danzo had tried to explain that it was a necessary sacrifice for the greater good, as the Akatsuki absolutely could not be allowed possession of Konoha's jinchuuriki. But, since _IT_ was the cause for the Akatsuki's downfall, people did not agree with him.

Worse still, it had become public knowledge that Danzo was not only fully aware of said attack, but had intentionally withheld his Root members from battle. Again, he tried to explain that his decision was for the greater good. After all, what if the attack had been completely successful , and there were no more ninja to protect what was left of the village after the Akatsuki left upon realizing that the jinchuuriki was not present in the village? Danzo's Root ninja would then be the only ones available to protect the survivors.

In both cases, though, the jinchuuriki had protected the village and prevented both scenarios take place. So no matter how plausible they were, or how necessary they were at the time, practically everyone was against him and his decisions. The two elders agreed with him, and thus allowed him to stay in his positions as on the council and head of the Root division of ANBU. They had even supported his campaign to be Hokage.

But as his 'treacherous' decisions were made public, it became clear that he would not be able to hold onto the position. He had hoped that the claims that that Uchiha child truly had captured the eight-tailed beast's jinchuuriki so that Danzo would show his leadership and force himself to a permanent position as Hokage, but it turned out to be a hoax; the eight-tails was never truly captured and that jinchuuriki was too proud of his feat to call blame or action.

Another unfortunate incident—a _very _unfortunate incident—was that Uchiha child somehow discovering the truth behind Itachi Uchiha's true mission. Then, the child had decided to act upon some self-driven and deranged 'revenge'. So, to teach him a lesson—as well as to kill the missing-nin and regain his status—Danzo met the Uchiha child head-on.

The encounter did not go as Danzo had planned. Rather, almost the exact opposite happened. Somehow—by _sheer_ _LUCK_—that Uchiha child had not only survived…but also bested Danzo's Sharingan! The child had somehow unlocked the power of Amaterasu and had burned off Danzo's arm. He had only been able to save himself by cutting off his Sharingan-enhanced limb.

Then, the Uchiha child stated that Danzo 'no longer had any power', and had left the battlefield.

But that was not true. Danzo still held his position on the council, as well as head of the Root division of ANBU. Not only that, but Danzo retained his Sharingan eye.

He had only told Homura and Utatane about what had happened. But they had the gall to agree partially with that Uchiha child and demand for Danzo to travel with more security as they deemed him 'unfit to battle'.

For about two years, everything was fine; the three of them still retained power over the village. But then, quite recently, that damn jinchuuriki ruined everything. Since his 'return' to the village from when it was properly being handled, Homura and Utatane were forced from their positions and even the village! They were exiled to the outskirts.

Danzo knew that it was only a small amount of time for the blame to be placed on him, for that was how the young people's minds seemed to work, so he took initiative.

He quit the council when the call for new members went out. These new people would have no sense of priority and it would only be a waste to attempt to reason with them as well as detrimental to his sanity. It would do him no good to stay on the council, no matter how much he was needed. Danzo also secluded himself to his mansion near the outskirts of the village near the forest. He would have moved to a new place, but his mansion was specially designed with many hidden routes as well as connected to Root headquarters.

In short: he was laying low until the moment came when he would overpower this 'revolutionary' regime; as Danzo knew the truth: it was simply an idealistic and terroristic regime that would lead to the village's downfall.

Currently, Danzo was in his backyard, testing out his endurance of his last remaining Sharingan.

He could not leave it exposed for long periods of time, but seeing that he no longer possessed his trump card, it was all he had left.

Currently, he could leave it exposed for at most fifteen minutes, but that was only if he only used it to observe his surroundings in higher detail. He could only actively use his mind-manipulation technique in small bursts.

It was while Danzo was training his body to handle his Sharingan being exposed for longer times did he notice a messenger hawk approaching his mansion.

Danzo held out his one remaining arm for the bird to land on.

Once it had, Danzo saw that the message it was carrying came from Homura and Utatane, for it held their crest of when they were the high elders.

Danzo removed the message and the hawk flew away. Then, he walked inside, for his reflexes were slightly slowed from all the training he had been doing.

Once he was in a secured room, Danzo released the seal upon the scroll and quickly read through it.

"…Interesting…" he mused to himself upon completion.

It would seem that Homura and Utatane had concocted a plan for the three of them to regain their rightful control of the village, but they would need _his_ help as they were still technically exiled from the main part of the village.

Their plan was simple: take control of the jinchuuriki again and make it reap havoc upon the village as everyone knew the nine-tailed fox demon host was capable of. Then, as it took down the current regime for them, the three of the former high elders would regain control.

Danzo had to admit that it was quite elegant and whole-heartedly agreed that the terroristic reign of Tsunade needed to end immediately.

He went to his cabinet and took out a scroll of his own and began writing his reply.

Once he had finished, Danzo rolled the scroll and placed his own two seals on it; one as head of the Root division of ANBU, and the other as one he had kept when he too was considered a high elder.

Then, he went to his yard once more. He traveled across his personal training ground to where he kept his own hawk. He attached the scroll to its pouch and told it where to go. He had no doubt that _his_ hawk would get his message to Homura and Utatane, and quickly. After all, his hawk was superior to the ones the village trained; much like himself.

Danzo allowed himself a wistful smile. Things were turning up for him; soon it would be the time to take down the current terroristic regime of Tsunade and name himself Hokage.

A frown marred his already scarred face as he realized something: it was up to him to control the jinchuuriki.

While he had no problem placing that bothersome demon host in its proper place, he did not want to have to deal with _IT_ on a regular basis. That was beneath him.

Wait—was one of his Root members not formerly in charge of the jinchuuriki while it was under Homura's and Utanate's control? That's right…Sai.

Problem solved, Danzo decided. He would make Sai in charge of that jinchuuriki once more. Danzo would be the one to place _it_ under control, then he would hand the reigns over to his agent. The demon host would spread destruction and kill Tsunade, and then Danzo would be Hokage. He _was_ the only _reasonable_ choice, after all.

Then, if he was feeling generous, he would allow Homura and Utatane to return to the village; but he would make it _very_ clearly exactly who it was who was in charge: Danzo.

* * *

**And that was the chapter!**

**So, two days after coming home, I came down with a cold. THANKFULLY, it was not the 'OH-MY-GOD-I-CAN'T-FREAKING-BREATHE' kind, but rather 'hacking-out-a-lung' kind. I had **_**thought**_** that I was being healthy by only hydrating myself with water as I took some medicine. Then I started to get a headache, no biggie since I had assumed that it was the medicine's fault as I often get a little loopy from them. But as time went by: the headache got WORSE! It was not until about 11pm did my dad suggest that it was a caffeine headache, and I was all 'are you KIDDING ME?!' I thought I was being **_**healthy**_** by staying away from my personal crack! But, like I had discovered last Lent, I=it turns out I am truly addicted.**

**Anyhoo, Happy Holidays! I really wanted to get this out quickly for a superspecialawesome Christmas gift to ya'll! And if you do not celebrate Christmas, free chapter update! Two in one month, not bad, eh? I think people can forgive me for spreading my Christmas cheer if I give out more pressies like this.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**When chapter 615 came out, my roommate and I had conflicting emotions regarding the NaruHina. She loves it, because she is all for hetero canon couples (though admits that there is legit reasons for my SasuNaru/NaruSasu paring), but then I was all "AAAAAGH! I CAN TOTALLY SEE THIS HAPPENING AND IT'S CUTE AND KINDA PERFECT BUT AAAAAAAAGH! I LOVE MY YAOI PARING TOO MUCH! CONFLIIIIICT! Then she called me cray-cray. So I insulted her mother. Then asked why she hadn't realized this already when we have been living in the same room for the past semester?**

**Anyhoo, Onwards with the chapter!**

* * *

Naruto was frustrated. Despite what Sasuke had said on top of the Hokage Monument, he, in fact, couldn't 'try again tomorrow'. He had spent the past two days in isolated therapy!

That meant that he was once again in the hospital.

He and Sasuke had tried to explain to Granny Tsunade that Naruto was fine and that it was a combination of things that led to him flipping out, but she wouldn't hear of it. She kept insisting that it was for Naruto's 'own good' and had somehow bribed Sakura and eventually Sasuke into siding with her after telling them stuff about wanting to be 'on the safe side'.

It was all very annoying. Naruto swore that Granny Tsunade was out to get him. All women were, based on how Shizune and Sakura were constantly keeping tabs on him. Sasuke was no better either. He was probably a woman in disguise. Naruto _knew_ Sasuke was always to pretty!

But Naruto was finally let out earlier in the morning; provided that Sasuke make sure that they used back-way allies and avoided people. That coupled with the isolated therapy—him staying alone in the hospital with only a few visits—made Naruto feel like a criminal. He didn't like feeling like a criminal so he was frustrated _and_ grumpy.

Well, he _was_ frustrated and grumpy, until Sasuke gave him Ichiraku's Ramen AND that he could see people other than Sasuke or those women out to get him!

Sasuke had told him not half an hour ago during breakfast that he had arranged for Naruto to meet people again later today! Well, a second 'social test' as Sasuke had put it, but same difference! So instead of frustrated and grumpy, Naruto was excited and apprehensive.

The only thing was that Naruto had no idea what this 'social test' was; all he knew was that Sasuke had cleared it with Tsunade.

He was definitely looking forward to seeing people again today; after all, he only had a brief conversation with his friends before he totally flipped out. But he was extremely apprehensive and nervous about this as well. Naruto was absolutely more worried about this time as opposed to the last time a couple of days ago.

Naruto was sitting on the back porch mulling over his worries when Sasuke stood next to him and asked, "Are you almost ready to go?"

Naruto nodded but made no effort to move.

Sasuke must have been staring at him, because the other was silent for a moment, then, "We can leave any time you are ready."

Naruto nodded, but once again made no effort to move.

Sasuke noticed this as he asked, "Naruto?"

Then Naruto asked, "Is the place you chose outside?"

"What?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto twisted his torso so that he could face Sasuke next to him and elaborated, "Is the place you chose for the meeting thing outside? Or in some place with many, many open windows and doors?"

Sasuke nodded, but his eyebrows were slightly raised as the Uchiha form of a questioning look. So Naruto explained, "I might need lots of air and I might also need lots of escape routes. You _do_ have a way out of wherever this is in case I flip out again, right?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes; the silent way of saying 'obviously'.

Naruto squinted his eyes and stuck his tongue out at the prick. All Naruto wanted to know was that there was a safe exit plan—or multiple plans—to make sure that he would be able to leave the area if he flipped out again, was that too much for Sasuke to understand? Hell, it was _the bastard_ who kept reminding _Naruto_ of these exit plans the last time Naruto was going out! Why was it so hard for Sasuke to just go over these exit plans?

Then Sasuke sat next to Naruto and placed his arm over the blonde's shoulder. Sasuke leaned a little so that he could whisper, "Relax," into Naruto's ear. It made Naruto shiver a little and feel slightly uncomfortable but at the same time happy.

But Naruto did not lean away like he might have before. Instead, he turned his own had so that he could glare at the bastard. "I can't just _relax_, bastard! What if that makes it easier for me to flip out?!"

Sasuke leaned his forehead so that it was touching Naruto's and countered, "What if stressing out makes you flip out?"

Naruto tried very hard to keep glaring, but Sasuke's forehead was pressing on the needed muscles making it very hard. Plus, it was hard to keep glaring when all he could think about was how Sasuke's black eyes somehow melded together into one big eye. So instead, he dropped his gaze.

"Stop worrying, usuratonkachi," Sasuke chastised, leaning away somewhat, "of course there are more than one exit strategy for every situation. Even academy students know that."

Naruto turned his head back to face the back yard and rolled his eyes. It felt comforting that Sasuke was comforting Naruto through insults like he used to back when they were Genin, but that didn't mean that the insults were always welcome.

"Bastard," Naruto shot back tiredly as he leaning against Sasuke's shoulder. It felt nice and safe there.

"You are quite cuddly today," Sasuke commented as he pulled Naruto closer and wrapped his arms around him.

Naruto couldn't be bothered to reply; he had spent the majority of his time in that isolated therapy worrying about the probability of him flipping out so it felt nice to let it go and relax against Sasuke.

He felt Sasuke most his head against Naruto's head and moving downwards along the side. Naruto didn't think much of it, assuming that Sasuke was probably tired as well and figured that Naruto's shoulder would be more comfortable than the top of his head. After all, Sasuke could lean against Naruto's cheek and not have to use any muscles to keep balance like he would atop Naruto's blond head.

But then Naruto felt Sasuke nuzzling his nose against his cheek, making Naruto blush profusely. Never in his sixteen—technically eighteen—years had anyone shown any romantic interest in him like this! He had yearned for this type of attention, specifically from Sasuke, from the time he discovered what romantic love was, but now that he was actually receiving it he had no idea what to do! He had always assumed that he'd live out his days alone so he spent his time yearning for love! Not thinking about what to do when he received it! It was too overwhelming!

To save himself from going to uncharted territories back into familiar and known regions, Naruto leaned his head away. But the action turned out to be fruitless as Sasuke leaned with him and started to kiss him on the cheek!

Naruto had no idea how to handle this, so he his only option was to escape! He squirmed a little to attempt to flee, but Sasuke held him close. That bastard.

"Bastard! Let me go!" Naruto barked, careful to not let Sasuke see him blush like some schoolgirl.

"But you are so cute," Sasuke commented as he briefly placed his lips upon Naruto's exposed neck.

Naruto yelped a _manly_ shriek and turned his torso around so that he could properly glare at Sasuke as well as keep his neck away from the emo-bastard-vampire-wannabe. "I am not '_cute_'," Naruto bit out, glaring at Sasuke who annoyingly seemed to be amused. "I am a _man_ and men aren't _cute_!"

Sasuke smirked and mouthed the word, 'cute'.

Naruto squinted his eyes at the bastard and stuck out his tongue.

When he opened his eyes as his tongue slid back behind his teeth, he saw Sasuke right in front of him close enough to be touching noses!

Then Sasuke kissed him lightly on the lips and said, "Time to go, usuratonkachi." And he pulled up a spluttering Naruto with him to leave.

As it turned out, Naruto's meeting with whoever was taking place once again at Training Grounds Three, just like the last time. For that, Naruto was somewhat thankful; at least in this open area he would have more places to leave in case he flipped out again.

When they arrived at the stumps Naruto had affectionately dubbed 'Team Seven's Stumps' since that was the place they had officially become Team Seven, he asked, "So who am I meeting today? Sakura? Kakashi?"

Sasuke shook his head once and stood next to Naruto.

Naruto frowned at the man besides him, and repeated, "So who am I meeting today?"

Sasuke merely shook his head once again and stared ahead.

Naruto stuck his tongue out and Sasuke and shouted, "You're a bastard! You know that?"

"I think _everyone_ knows that, Naruto," a new voice called out.

Naruto whipped his head around so that he could see who it was, and saw Shikamaru!

"Shika!" Naruto shouted out and waved frantically at his could-watching friend. The friend in question, however, did not seem to appreciate the use of his nickname and raised a bored eyebrow at the blonde as he slumped over to where Naruto and Sasuke were at a leisurely pace with his hands in his pockets.

Undeterred, Naruto was bouncing with anticipation and started chattering away like there was no tomorrow. "Hey, Shika! Wow! It's been, like, forever since I've seen you! We haven't really talked since Konoha was being rebuilt! But that was like three months ago! Woah! I mean two _years_! Heh, I still can't wrap my head around that! But hey! Has anything really changed with you! Getting' it up with Temari yet? Don't tell Gaara, but I think you have a chance. Are you still a Chuunin? Man, with brains like yours you should be a Jounin by now! But then you've always been too lazy for things like work, but the Hokage needs brains like yours! And that'll be ME soon so I'll DEFINITELY make sure you're a Jounin by then! Are you alone? Are Ino and Chouji going to come visit soon? That'd be pretty sweet! Remember that time we went on a mission together? Man, you were constantly riding my ass for not listening or whatever, I wasn't paying much attention and I can't really remember. But hey, can ya blame me? That was before I went on my training trip with Ero-Sennin, so that was like, what? Three, four years ago? Oh shit! I forgot that I was out of it for two years again! Then, like, FIVE years ago! So it's not my fault I can't remember! Maybe Ino or Chouji can. Are they coming soon? Do you know what we're all doing? I hope it involves food, 'cause I'm gettin' kinda hungry. But then Chouji might eat it all! Does he still do that? Maybe it'll involve flowers! Ino still runs her family flower shop, yea? I'm kinda jealous of her, being able to surround herself with flowers all day. Sasuke let me make a garden out back, but there hasn't been enough time for everything to bloom properly. The only flowers there are the adult ones I planted, not the seeds yet. Which is a shame. The seeds I bought, er, SASUKE bought are nice! They are going to look and smell really good once they properly grow. I can't wait for that! Ino would definitely approve. Hey, where is she? And Chouji?"

By the time Naruto had paused to take a breath, Shikamaru had already approached them and was standing the standard two meters away from Naruto.

Before the blonde could speak up again, Shikamaru spoke first and muttered, "Troublesome."

"Eh?" Naruto asked, cocking his head to the side.

Shikamaru sighed and said, "No, Ino and Chouji are NOT joining us today."

Naruto paused for a moment, then asked, "Why not? Is one of them sick? It's probably Chouji, getting food poisoning or something. It shouldn't be Ino. She's a medic-nin, after all! Ah! But that doesn't mean that medic-nins can't get sick! It happens to everyone! At least I'm pretty sure…I haven't known a medic-nin to get sick. But then again, that's not something they would brag about. I can't remember the last time I got sick either. But that doesn't count because I got Kyuubi and Kyuubi keeps me from getting sick. Healing and all that. Hey, remember during the Chuunin exams when Chouji got food poisoning and we gave him those fruits? Man, that was AWESOME! We should totally do that again if he really has food poisoning! Ah, but you'd havta go without me because I can't go around visiting people in case I flip out again. Tell me how it goes, yea? I bet he'd freak out even more than the first time!"

Shikamaru gazed passed Naruto while he spoke with a somewhat shocked expression. Then he shook his head and murmured, "Almost forgot how much he could talk…"

"What?" Naruto asked loudly, placing his hand behind his ear and leaning forwards to indicate that he couldn't hear what Shikamaru had just said.

Instead of answering Naruto, Shikamaru faced Sasuke and asked, "Is he always like this or am I getting the brunt of it?"

Sasuke did not reply, and merely half-glared at Shikamaru for talking to him in such a familiar way.

Naruto was about to comment that he was right there when Shikamaru spoke again and said, "No, neither of them are sick. And it doesn't matter because neither of them are coming."

Naruto pursed his lips and looked to the side and mumbled, "You already said that."

"And you already forgot that." Shikamaru countered with a sigh.

"Eh?" Naruto asked, really confused.

"Exactly." Shikamaru nodded to himself.

Naruto threw his hands up in the air while rolling his eyes. There was no point in arguing with a genius.

Then Shikamaru said, "Instead, Kurenai-Sensei and her kid are coming here."

Naruto looked between Shikamaru and Sasuke until the latter nodded his head once to confirm that what Shikamaru had just said was true.

"What? Why?" he asked the both of them.

It was Shikamaru who answered. "Lover boy," he gestured towards Sasuke, who glared back at him making Naruto laugh a little, "arranged this so that you could slowly accumulate yourself with normal society. Or other, non-threatening people who also have the chance to stop you in case you flip out on us again. You'll hang with the kid, who hasn't learned how to properly access chakra or pose any threat of any kind besides one hell of a temper tantrum. And if worse comes to worse, I can stop you with my shadow manipulation, and Kurenai can cast genjutsu on you long enough for Sasuke to use his Sharingan on you and the Kyuubi."

Naruto paused to think about the logic. There was no threat here, and there were plenty of escape routes as well as a safe and harmless way to prevent him from hurting anyone if he flipped out!

His face split with a wide grin as he thanked both Sasuke and Shikamaru for doing all this for him. Shikamaru had told him that apologies were too troublesome. Sasuke didn't say anything, not that Naruto expected him to while they were out in public.

Then, by the edge of the Training Grounds, Naruto saw the outline of someone tall, or at least tall in comparison to the outline of the small child next to them. Naruto assumed that those were Kurenai with her child.

Even though he knew that the mother and child posed no threat, Naruto still felt a tremor or anxiety. What if he flipped out, despite all the measures taken against the possibility?

He felt Sasuke grasp his hand and give it a small squeeze as a reassurance that Naruto was not alone. Naruto squeezed back, silently relaying that he got the message and appreciated it.

When Kurenai approached, she and the child stood next to Shikamaru two meters away from Naruto and Sasuke.

Kurenai then smiled warmly at Naruto and said, "Hello, Naruto. I can't tell you how happy I am to see you well again."

Naruto stared at her for a moment, stunned, before breaking out into a wide smile. He blushed a little bit and rubbed the back of his neck. It felt nice to have one of the Jounins he had great respect for acknowledge him.

Then the child next to Kurenai sat down, and placed one chubby hand on Shikamaru's leg and started to suck on the other hand's thumb.

Kurenai looked down affectionately and said, "As soon as we reached the edge of the Training Grounds, the little guy wanted to walk. So he walked quite a while."

Naruto looked up from the child to Kurenai, a little confused. It wasn't _that_ much of a walk!

Noticing this, Shikamaru sighed and explained, "He just started walking a few months ago and hasn't been walking for much more than a few steps at a time. This is huge for a kid."

"…Oh," Naruto said, rather embarrassed with himself. He had never had to deal with children—_young_ children—and no one bothered to explain things like this to him as a child.

Then Kurenai said, "It's alright. Now, do you have anything in mind for today?"

"…Uhhhhh…" Naruto said. He really didn't have any idea what to do for today. He only just learned who he would be spending the day with a couple of minutes ago!

Luckily, Shikamaru answered for him. "We were just going to hang here for the day. You know, play a bit or watch the clouds."

Naruto laughed, "Only _you_ would find cloud-watching fun, Shika!"

Shikamaru shrugged and moved towards a close-by grassy patch so that he could lie down.

At the loss of Shikamaru's pant leg, the child seemed startled and began looking around. Naruto had no idea what to do; was the child going to cry? Kurenai didn't seemed bothered as she kept a mother's watchful eye on her child. Naruto looked to the side at Sasuke. Maybe he knew what to do.

Sasuke net his gaze and gestured with his head to approach the kid.

Naruto's eyes widened. Was Sasuke serious?

Sasuke nodded once.

Naruto turned to face the child, then gave a passing glare at Sasuke; warning that if the child started screaming at him like kids used to whenever Naruto approached, it was all Sasuke's fault. Then he approached the kid.

He glanced at Kurenai, who smiled and nodded, then sat down in front of the kid.

"Uh, hey, little guy," Naruto greeted, unsure as to what to do. He had never been allowed to approach kids as a child himself. Konohamaru and his friends were the youngest people Naruto really had contact with.

The kid looked up at Naruto with, in Naruto's opinion, a scrutinizing blank expression. It was like the kid was taking in every detail he could see yet at the same time not focusing on Naruto. Then his eyes focused on Naruto's headband and his eyes lit up. He squealed a little and started reaching for it.

Naruto was going to take it off for the kid to play with, when Shikamaru called out, "Don't give him your forehead protector. He'll just slobber on it."

Naruto quickly removed his hands from it and thanked Shikamaru. But that left him in his original dilemma of not knowing what to do. He looked up at Kurenai, silently asking her what he should do to entertain the kid.

Kurenai smiled and produced a brightly colored stuffed bear from a scroll. Naruto's eyes widened; he had never thought of summoning child care necessities in scrolls before.

He waved the stuffed animal in front of the kid, who made noises of happiness and started to reach for it. Naruto was about to, when Shikamaru advised, "It's fun to play keep-away from him."

Naruto's eyes widened in mild horror. He remembered when kids would do that to him as a child! It wasn't fun at all!

Then Kurenai said, "Shikamaru isn't explaining it well. He means that a favorite game of his to play whenever he's babysitting is to goad my baby into following him with the bear."

Naruto turned to her, still not trusting that this 'game' was 'fun' for the child. The Shikamaru supplied, "You hold it just out of his reach and he has a fun time searching for it even though you have it within his sight. He also likes showing off that he can walk. We don't keep the bear away for long, though, so no harm done."

Naruto was still doubtful, and promised himself that at the slightest discomfort or annoyance on the kid's part he would return the bear at once. Then he held the bear out of the kid's reach.

The little two-year-old boy's eyes lit up at the sight of his bear, and reached for it. So Naruto switched it to his other hand.

The kid looked confused, and moved his head all over searching for his toy even though it hadn't moved far. It was adorably hilarious!

As the game continued, Naruto switched the bear from hand to hand with greater speeds and in opposite directions; even switching the bear immediately back to the original place to watch the kid's reaction. All throughout, Naruto was laughing along with Kurenai's child.

Then Naruto got bold, and moved the bear further out of the kid's reach. So in retaliation, the kid wobbled to a standing position and began following him. Whenever the kid got closer, Naruto would take a few steps backwards, encouraging the child to follow him.

Not too long afterwards, the two were engaged in a game of tag. It was very much unlike the game Naruto remembered as a child because he was purposefully 'running' slowly.

When the kid caught him, Naruto bent down on all fours and let Kurenai place her child on his back so they could play horsie, or "'Sie'" as the child exclaimed. Kurenai held onto her child's outstretched arms to make sure he didn't fall.

Naruto then crawled towards Shikamaru, who was absorbed in gazing at his beloved clouds.

With Kurenai's permission, Naruto held her child and placed him in front of himself. Then he tossed the bear. Thanks to his years of training, he successfully aimed the bear so that it landed—silently—on the other side of Shikamaru.

He then urged the child to go get it.

With a determined expression the child waddled over to Shikamaru. Like Naruto had hoped, the kid didn't work out that he'd have to go _around_ Shikamaru to get the bear and instead started to crawl over the lazy ninja.

As soon as he felt the baby plop down on him, Shikamaru jumped a little, having been paying attention to the clouds. Then, he grabbed the child around the waist and asked what he was doing.

The child of course, could not speak properly yet. So he ended gibbering sounds at Shikamaru, who for his part played along.

"Is that so?" Shikamaru asked, pretending to understand what the kid was gibbering. It seemed to be working, as the kid continued to babble away. Shikamaru nodded occasionally, then asked, "Hey, Naruto. Did you send the kid?"

Naruto burst out laughing, and could only nod yes.

Nodding, Shikamaru said to the kid, "You should know better than to listen to strange people." Then he sat up and tossed his kid up in the air a couple of inches.

The child squealed in delight and seemed to egg Shikamaru to toss him up higher, but Shikamaru did not comply. Instead, he swooped the child lower so it would seem that he swung the child higher. Then let go for two seconds before catching him to repeat the process.

All the while, the child was laughing wildly. It was infectious and Naruto was doubled over laughing as well. Kurenai had a content smile on her face, and Sasuke was, well, Sasuke; but his eyes were softer than usual.

After a few more minutes, Kurenai announced that it was time for them to leave.

Then, she turned to Naruto, who tried to stop laughing. When he did, Kurenai asked, "How has your recovery been doing?"

A little surprised by the sudden change in topic, Naruto automatically answered, "Fine."

Kurenai smiled warmly and said, "I'm glad."

Then she pulled him in for a hug.

For a moment, Naruto was stunned. He only had one memory of being hugged by a mother, and that was during his so-called 'training' with Kurama when his own mother appeared in his mind as he worked out his differences with the demon sealed inside him.

It felt nice, being held by a mother. True, he dearly wished that it could be Kushina that was hugging him in such a compassionate way, but it did not deter him from returning the hug in the slightest. He truly appreciated what Kushina was doing for him. He felt accepted, and even loved, though in a different way than when Sasuke hugged him.

After the two parted, they shared a smile with one another. Then Kurenai walked over to Shikamaru and her baby and repeated that it was time for them to leave.

Shikamaru nodded and bade Naruto and Sasuke goodbye as he swung the child under his armpit to carry him like a bag. Kurenai did not seem to mind, though, as the child laughed even harder at the new position he found himself in.

As he watched them leave, Naruto reflected on family and wondered what might could have happened had the Kyuubi not been sealed in him.

Then he shook his head. No. It was useless to think about' that.

Besides, it wasn't as if Naruto's life was miserable anymore! He had friends! He had people who cared about him!

And best of all: he had Sasuke. Who was the greatest family Naruto could ever ask for.

With that in mind, Naruto turned around and quickly walked over to Sasuke. He didn't give Sasuke a chance to react before pulling him into a hug.

Sasuke seemed surprised, but did not hesitate to return the hug.

"Thank you," Naruto whispered against Sasuke's shoulder, "thank you for everything."

* * *

**And that was the chapter.**

**So this is the transitionary chapter of sorts. Things will be picking up soon, but I wanted to both show that Naruto is recovering as well as give them a grace period before things start really going.**

**And sorry it takes so long up update, haha. I know it's annoying to hear, but as many of you know: college takes up a looooooot of time and effort.**

**But anyways, thank you for those who favorite/alert. And an extra special thanks to those who review! I love ya'll!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**One of my roommates received bubbles in one of those 'I got ALL my friends Valentine's Day gifts!' presents; my other roommate and I did too. But THIS roommate enjoyed blowing the bubbles at every mealtime we had with her. It was a lot of fun, though we DID have to tell her to not blow them while we were eating because some bubbles landed on our food and even in the drinks. However, last night she finally ran out of bubbles…or at least broke the wand part. So now it's MY turn to torture her by flaunting my owning of bubbles and not sharing. BWAHAHAHA.**

**Onward with the chapter!**

* * *

Sai was _angry_.

Well, he supposed that was what he was feeling. After all, he was being held in a maximum, isolated prison cell. Such things were cause for _anger_, or so he had been told.

Sai was also _bored_. He had a very limited range of activities that he could do. That was in part because both of his hands were severely damaged from when that Uchiha had stabbed his hands with his katana. That did make Sai very _angry_. As a prisoner, he was not allowed to request for a proper healing, so his hands were left to 'heal' at their own pace.

The other reason that Sai was _bored_ was because all that his guards allowed him to do was read from a selection of pre-approved reading material. There were no instruction manuals on social relationships or anything helpful. Sometimes there was a history book, but those were rare and were autobiographies of only somewhat influential ninja of the past that did not have much to say. Mostly it was romance novels…if they could be called that. The selections were not long and mostly consisted of the scantily clad women on the covers encountering sexual relationships with the often shirtless man on the cover with her. Those were not enjoyable to read as Sai had been told when he was a member of Team Seven that such novels were 'completely inaccurate' and that he 'should never ever think people act like that' by Sakura, and reinforced by Ino.

Sai supposed that from his even being able to read the novels that no one had told the guards about what Sai and his squad had done with Naruto. Or that if the guards _did_ know, then the guards must not have had favorable emotions towards Naruto.

For while Sai knew that taking control of Naruto's mind was necessary—after all, it was what he had been ordered to do—he also knew that it was _wrong_, or _immoral_ to do so. He had been told so by Naruto and Inuzuka when someone had once _angrily_ told Inuzuka to control Akamaru. When Sai had asked why Inuzuka had gotten _defensive_ and _angry_ in return, Naruto had explained because it was _wrong_ to take away someone's mind from them, and apparently that included dogs and humans. It was also apparently worse if the one being controlled was not a threat.

If Sai's assumptions were correct, then the guards imprisoning him either did not know or did not care that he had been the one to take over Naruto's mind. He deduced this because aside from his unable to ask for proper healing or for more activities, the guards were not cruel to him. Of course, there was the usual _disdain_ against him that Sai knew all guards held for prisoners from other ANBU complaining about guard duty to him or members of his squad. But other than that, they left Sai alone, so they clearly must not have held any _resentment_ for his 'criminal actions' that imprisoned him.

During his _boredom_, Sai would sometimes wonder about what had happened to the other members of his ANBU team. His trial had been separate from theirs and he was in an isolated prison, so he had no knowledge of what had happened to them after Uchiha had coerced Naruto's old friends into his madness.

Maybe the team members were similarly imprisoned like Sai was. Some of them would have had to been placed in isolated or maximum containment, like Kohaku who could convince the guards to break him out, or Zima whose mastery of building and disabling traps could enable him to break free of almost any prison given enough time. Some members, however, might have been killed in Uchiha's madness, Sai figured, for they were comparatively weak. Such as Takumo and Akimo, both of whom worked best in teams and not so well as individuals or so Kohaku had told him.

Whenever he thought about what might have happened to his team, Sai felt no _worry_. Nor did he feel any _sadness_ when he considered the possibility of their deaths. Whatever happened to them was merely something for Sai to think about to occupy his time.

Sai thought about might have befallen his team during his imprisonment so that he would not think about WHY he was imprisoned. He discovered that thinking about that made Sai VERY _angry_.

It was all the Uchiha's fault. If that Uchiha had not assaulted Naruto while the ANBU Squad was returning from their mission, then none of this would have happened.

It was that Uchiha riling everyone up for no reason other than selfish greed that landed everyone in their current mess. Everything was perfectly fine the way things were before that Uchiha had shown up. But then Uchiha had tricked Naruto's old friends into following his reckless, selfish greed.

None of the current mess was Naruto's fault, though. It could never be Naruto's fault. Naruto was simply an innocent victim of that Uchiha's unhealthy obsession. All Naruto had done was _naïvely_, as it had been described, hold onto a bond of friendship that the Uchiha had warped for his perverse obsession.

More than once, Sai _angrily_ wished that the Uchiha had never come back into their lives. Had that not happened, then Sai would still be rightfully be with his Naruto.

Thinking about what could have been if that Uchiha had not come along made Sai _happy_, as long as he did not focus on where he was at the moment for that made him _angry_, because his life would have been spent with his Naruto by his side.

The two of them would of course still do their missions, but their life together would have been perfect.

Sai would have traveled with his Naruto to different lands and show him different sceneries, for Sai knew that his Naruto loved that. They would have traveled to the ocean, so that his Naruto would enjoy the vast sea and the _peace_ it brought to a person. They would have traveled to a meadow of flowers, for his Naruto had once described _loving_ one meadow he had visited with Hinata, Kiba, and Shino. They would have traveled to somewhere where they could gaze at the stars, for his Naruto would enjoy that very much. And they would have traveled to a mountainside so that his Naruto could enjoy the view.

Sai and Naruto would of course still be living together, and they would have been _happy_. Sai would have continued cooking all of Naruto's favorite meals, and even looking up new recipes for them to try together.

Before that Uchiha had returned and ruined everything, Sai had been considering buying new furniture. His old furniture had been purchased while he still lived alone and was bought for the purpose of moving him out of the ROOT dormitories for the purpose of infiltrating Team Seven, and was, as Naruto had put it when he had first visited the apartment, 'bland'. Sai was going to buy more colorful things for his Naruto, like sheets or a carpet. He was also going to buy a comfier couch, as well as a larger bed for their lovemaking needs.

They would have done all this and more had the Uchiha not barge into their lives with his sick obsession over Sai's Naruto. That Uchiha simply did not understand that Naruto did not belong to him. Naruto belonged to Sai.

Sai and Naruto were happy together; and Naruto was much happier with Sai than he ever was or ever could be with that abusive Uchiha.

Sai knew this because he loved Naruto and knew that Naruto loved him.

Before he could imagine himself and Naruto in one of those scenes from those 'trashy romance novels' he had been reading—or so they had been called by Sakura and Ino when warned not to take them seriously—Sai heard movement outside his cell.

Sai sat a little straighter, listening intently to the sounds outside his isolated prison cell. It was not time for the guards to change shifts, nor was it a 'random' inspection. He needed to be able to quickly move into an offensive stance if the noises—footsteps—outside his cell were indicative to some form of attack.

The footsteps stopped right outside of Sai's cell, so he stood up. He was not certain of who might be outside the door or whether that person may be hostile or not. In a standing position, Sai would be able to quickly attack should the outcome be hostile.

After a pause, Sai heard the locks clicking. That meant that whoever was outside his cell had already opened the outer seal and had access to the multitude of keys for the cells locks. They no doubt also knew how to open the inner seals judging by the quick pace that things were getting opened. But that did not entirely mean that the person opening his cell was allowed to, or if they were that they meant no harm.

When the door opened, Sai saw that the person was wearing an ANBU mask along with a cloak. The person was an ANBU ROOT member. They did not speak as they faced Sai.

Sai nodded and began to follow the ROOT member. Words were rarely spoken in ROOT because they were not needed. The ROOT member was clearly sent to retrieve Sai and Sai was meant to follow.

The two walked through the maze that was the maximum security prison and passed by a few isolation cells along the way. Sometimes they would pass by a guard, but that was no trouble. Danzo and his ROOT division held much power in the prison so guards did not question ROOT members or their prisoner cargo. The guards loyal to the Hokage rather than Danzo were easy to pinpoint and thus easy to avoid.

They took the pathway out of the prison that led to one of ROOT's pathway to one of their safety rooms.

As the safety room neared in view, the ROOT member that had escorted Sai stopped walking as Sai continued forward. Sai did not need to look back to know that the ROOT member was watching him. After all, it was their job to ensure that Sai entered the safety room.

Sai opened the door and saw that Danzo was sitting in his appointed chair that he had in every safety room.

Sai immediately walked in front of the chair and kneeled in front of Danzo.

He waited for Danzo to speak.

Danzo took his time. After a while, he spoke and ordered, "Tell me about the different variations of the control jutsu used against the jinchuuriki."

Sai automatically answered, "There are three approaches to the control jutsu, each with its own function." While Sai spoke, he kept his head bowed to the ground.

"And those are?" Danzo demanded to know.

"To be on alert, to fight, and a calm stasis," Sai immediately replied.

Danzo was silent for a moment, then he asked, "And you expanded upon those?"

Sai was silent, but nodded once to the ground.

"How?" Danzo barked.

Sai answered, "By combining different elements of the three main approaches."

"Explain."

"When there was need to blend in with other ninja, a combination of the calm stasis would be added to the alert function so that Naruto would not automatically shift to the combat function."

Danzo was silent, but it was a different silence than before. Sai had often observed this type of silence when Naruto or someone said something considered to be _offensive_ or _incorrect_. Sai had been told that this type of silence meant that someone had just said something _wrong_.

Sai did not know what he had said to be _wrong_, so he kept silent. Maybe his assessment of the situation was incorrect. Apparently that had been known to happen.

Danzo stood up and spoke in a _punitive_ tone, "You have grown WEAK."

Sai said nothing. He was not supposed to answer.

"You have grown _weak_," Danzo repeated as he circled Sai, "you spoke about IT as if it is human. It isn't. It is merely the Kyuubi vessel."

Sai felt _anger_ at his superior's words about his Naruto, but he did not allow his _anger_ to arise. He was not supposed to speak.

"Your stay with IT and those IT has tricked has fooled you as well. It was convinced you that it is human and lured you into its trap so that it can weaken you and dispose of you at its leisure. And it's working. You have grown _weak_," Danzo said.

Sai wanted to defend his Naruto. Danzo's words _angered_ Sai. But he still did not speak, nor did he move.

"Your time with IT and its friends has made you lose sight of your strength, and instead forced parasitic _bonds_ upon you. Those do not equal strength like IT wants you to believe. Those are the reason for your weakness. Now, you are unable to see IT for what it truly is: a demon vessel. Those _bonds_ also distract from the mission at hand, and cause ninja to compromise and even _fail_ in their task. They are nothing but a liability and weakness, like the Kyuubi vessel."

Sai did not answer. He was not supposed to answer.

"But," Danzo said as he stopped in front of Sai, "I suppose that I should commend you for mastering the control jutsu used against the Kyuubi vessel."

Sai was not supposed to answer, but he discovered that this _compliment_ did not ebb his _anger_ in the slightest.

"You should especially be commended for discovering how to change the jutsu to fit a situation's needs." Danzo said.

Sai was not supposed to speak, but he was expected to acknowledge what his superior just said; so he nodded once to the ground.

Danzo walked to his chair and sat down. Then he said, "I have need of your mastery over the jutsu."

Sai was _confused_. Why did Danzo need Sai to know about a jutsu solely created for controlling his Naruto?

"I have been given the chance to regain control over Konoha as its rightful leader. But in order to do that, I need the Kyuubi vessel to create a menace of itself to overthrow the current regime. But unfortunately, if I send the demon vessel as it is now, IT would only coerce the regime into working for _it_. So I'll need you to control it once more."

Sai looked up at Danzo.

"I will provide a safe house, and issue the orders, but you will be ITS caretaker. Do you understand?"

Sai paused a moment, then he bowed his head once more.

"Yes."

* * *

**And that was the chapter.**

**This week one of my roommates ordered pizza twice. Why? Because she didn't want to put on people clothes to leave the dorm. But in her defense, the school cafeteria gets old really fast and most days are either hit or miss with the majority being miss when you are just plain tired of the food available.**

**Anyway, thank you for the favorites/story alerts! And an extra special thank you to those who review. I love ya'll and reviews are how I judge which story should take priority.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**I'm bad at keeping multiple stories updated. My muse wanted me to write another story, so I had put all my energy into that for a while. But I'm back with this story and my other ones, too.**

**Onwards with the chapter.**

* * *

Sasuke was proud of his Naruto, he really was.

Naruto was once again recovering at his usual speedy rate and was determined to keep the pace up. Unlike before, Sasuke had no qualms about this because Naruto had gained the same weariness about his progress that everyone else had, but with a renewed enthusiasm.

The blonde was no longer confined solely to isolated therapy and could once in a while go and see other people—with proper precautions—which Naruto frequently did so; or at least as much as he could.

Recently, he made the huge success of seeing Konohamaru and his little friends without flipping out. Naruto had wanted to take things to the next step and see how he would react to chakra—something about some sort of ritual he and Konohamaru shared whenever they saw each other for the first time after a long time that the girl in that little group seemed displeased about—but had been denied.

But still, the fact that Naruto was pushing himself again was a very good sign.

He was becoming more comfortable with being around many people at once, and had even taken a walk throughout the village with Sasuke.

Many people were excited and delighted to see Naruto, their hero, again after such a long absence.

More people than what Sasuke was comfortable with had come within a meter of Naruto, and had even touched him! Many people had insisted on shaking Naruto's hand or patting him on the back.

They had backed off, of course, when faced with the Uchiha Glare; though the deed had been done.

Luckily, though, none of that had set Naruto off. He had even thrived upon all of that surrounding and touching by the villagers.

Naruto's smile and truly happy expression was the only thing that had kept Sasuke from decapitating a few limbs.

The blonde had wanted to stop at Ichiraku's Ramen, but Sasuke would not let him.

Sasuke had known better. Even though the two had not stopped moving for longer than a moment while walking through the village, those people had still swarmed to them. The Uchiha just knew that if the two had stopped at one place for an elongated period of time, then the villagers would assume that they could crowd them as they pleased.

So Sasuke had dictated one bowl on the go, much to Naruto's disappointment.

But Sasuke was forgiven, because along with Naruto's progress with his therapy, the usuratonkachi was also making progress with their relationship.

While they have not done anything serious, Naruto was becoming more and more used to the idea that they _were_ in a relationship. They held hands more, they sometimes slept in the same futon together, and had even kissed—chastely.

Sasuke had made sure to take every step slow; to let Naruto decide the speed. But he was, unfortunately, unsatisfied with just how slow things were going. Sasuke would not let Naruto know this, however, because Sasuke truly _was_ happy.

He was the happiest he had ever been since his parents had died, and it was all because of his Naruto.

Sasuke wanted to repay his Naruto for all that he had given him, but did not want to overwhelm Naruto.

He wanted to take Naruto out on a date today.

He had decided this after he first woke up with Naruto sleeping on his bicep.

Sasuke had spent the entire morning deciding what he wanted to do for his Naruto.

Today was going to be an extra-long therapy session, at Naruto's insistence. His exact words were, "I want to be better, already!" and had demanded that the sessions be elongated.

Naruto had been advised against this, of course, but when asked why, the only response was not that it would trigger him, but that it would put a strain on him. To this, Naruto had scoffed and proclaimed that he had gone through worse and would not hear another word against his decision.

Today was the first of these long sessions, so Sasuke had made Naruto a large breakfast. He was proud of himself because Naruto had proclaimed himself full with a small plate to spare.

Right after breakfast, Sasuke had volunteered to walk Naruto to the hospital for his therapy.

Naruto had said that he didn't need to, that Naruto knew the way to the hospital just fine, but Sasuke had insisted.

He needed to speak with Sakura.

As the two walked to the hospital, using the main roads as Naruto no longer needed to avoid the villagers, people had stopped them to greet the blonde.

Unlike their earlier walk, while Naruto was polite and had greeted them with enthusiasm, he made sure to keep everything short as he understood the importance of getting to the hospital quickly.

Unfortunately, with the number of people greeting Naruto, and the usuratonkachi's refusal to ignore anyone, what should have been a fifteen minute walk turned into a half hour walk.

Naruto hadn't minded. In fact, it seemed to have put him in an even better mood than before.

When they reached the hospital, Naruto had thought that Sasuke would only escort him the entrance, and was extremely surprised when Sasuke wordlessly walked him all the way to the isolation wing.

Sakura was there at the entrance, and was also surprised to see Sasuke there.

"Sasuke!" she exclaimed, "You don't usually come this far!"

"Hn," Sasuke grunted.

Naruto rolled his eyes, "That's bastard-ese for 'I know',"

Sakura giggled, "I see then. Well, is there anything you need?"

"Hn," Sasuke grunted again.

Naruto's eyes widened and he turned to Sasuke, asking, "What do you need to talk to Sakura for?"

"What? Sasuke wants to talk with me?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah, that's what he said," Naruto said.

Sasuke faced Naruto and answered, "I just want to know what these longer sessions will entail."

"Ohhhh," said Naruto, "okay, whatever, you guys can talk about that boring stuff. Granny Tsunade is in there, right?" he directed the last question to Sakura.

Sakura nodded, and before she could say anything, Naruto had sprinted passed her into the room.

Smiling at Naruto's antics, Sakura turned back to Sasuke and asked, "SO what did you want to know?"

Sasuke shook his head and answered, "Nothing, but I need you to keep Naruto busy today."

Sakura gave him a confused look, "Why?" she asked.

"Special night," Sasuke clipped, not wanted to speak much longer with Sakura. He did not have a problem with her, per say, but he needed to plan his date with Naruto and she had a tendency to talk for too long.

Sakura laughed lightly and said, "Alrighty then," and winked at Sasuke as if they had shared a great secret together.

Sasuke resisted rolling his eyes.

"Don't push him too hard, he does that on his own," Sasuke told her as he turned to leave.

Sakura laughed again and called out, "Have fun with Kakashi-Sensei!"

Sasuke continued walking, but he internally groaned.

He had forgotten that Kakashi was supervising missions today; he sped-walked over to the bridge where Team Seven used to meet at, and subsequently where Kakashi had dictated where Sasuke wait.

While waiting for Kakashi to show up, Sasuke continued to think about what kind of date that he could make for Naruto.

Going to Ichiraku's? No. Not formal enough. It might make Naruto happy, but ramen was absolutely _not_ an appropriate dinner date.

Going to one of the fanciest restaurants in Konoha? No. _Too_ formal. Naruto would just feel uncomfortable and would not enjoy their date.

Going to that barbeque place? No. Too many of Naruto's other friends frequent there, and there was too much of a possibility of their date for two becoming a group event.

Then it hit Sasuke.

He should make a romantic dinner at home.

It was perfect! But at the same time, it would require time. There was so much to do.

Too much to do, if Sasuke wanted everything to be perfect, and he did, for him to be wasting time with silly D-rank missions that _should_ be done by Genin.

He needed to decide what he wanted to make for dinner, buy the necessary supplies, clean the house, begin making dinner, pick up Naruto, enjoy their lovely dinner, and have the perfect date.

With that, he was about to decide what to make for dinner, when Kakashi _finally_ arrived.

"Yo," he said in greeting.

Sasuke merely raised an eyebrow at him.

"Sorry I'm late, but I got lost on the path of life today," Kakashi said, looking off in the distance for dramatic effect.

Sasuke did not bother to dignify the excuse with a reaction.

"So, Sasuke," Kakashi drawled, "here are the missions you need to complete today—"

Sasuke cut him off, "No."

"No?" Kakashi asked, not at all surprised. His tone suggested that he had actually expected Sasuke to deny the missions.

"I'm not doing missions today," Sasuke told Kakashi.

"Any reason why?" Kakashi asked with the same tone.

"Special night with Naruto," Sasuke clipped, much like he did with Sakura. Though his reasons for not wanting to Kakashi were different than with her though; he just didn't want to deal with the elder ninja.

He was expecting Kakashi to ask more questions, or just be plain annoying for longer, but much to Sasuke's surprise, Kakashi smiled behind his mask and said, "Alright."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. That easy?

Kakashi explained, "Sakura had already told Lady Hokage about your plans for tonight, and she agrees that Naruto needs a nice night to relax."

Sasuke nodded. That made sense; Tsunade had always had a soft spot for Naruto.

With that, Sasuke turned around and left the bridge, heading towards the shopping district of the village. He needed to buy some new groceries.

While he walked, he noticed that he was accumulating quite a lot of stares, though people had tried to be somewhat discreet.

The villagers must not have been as used to him being in the village as he had thought.

Oh well, Sasuke had never truly cared about the stares. They were annoying, yes, but he never let them get to him. He was above that.

When he got to the store, he realized that he did not know what he wanted to make Naruto. The more that he thought about it, the more that he realized that Naruto had wanted Sasuke to teach him how to cook.

That would be better. It was romantic, and Naruto would enjoy that more.

But what to make?

It needed to be simple, for as much as Sasuke loved Naruto, the usuratonkachi was _not_ a brilliant chef. Naruto knew this, and had fully admitted to it, explaining that he never bothered to learn because he could barely afford his living expenses, so ingredients for meals were a luxury.

Simple…simple….

Curry.

Curry would be the best meal to make. It was simple, and was delicious. Sasuke could teach Naruto how his mother used to cook it for the family. Naruto would enjoy that.

So Sasuke walked down the aisles of the grocery store and picked up the necessary items, including extra rice since he remembered that as a child, his mother's curry was so delicious that even his father participated in some friendly banter for more curry.

Sasuke paid for his grocery items, and made his way back to the house that he shared with Naruto.

When he got to the house, he placed the groceries on the kitchen counter and made his way to the supply closet and began to clean the house.

Usually, he would simply make sure that the house was clear of messes, but tonight was a special date night, so the house had to be immaculate; the _entire_ house.

It took longer than usual, but that was because he was not satisfied until the surfaces in the house sparkled.

Sasuke looked at the time, and saw that it was almost time for him to pick Naruto up from his therapy session.

He rushed back to the kitchen and laid out all of the necessary ingredients for tonight's dinner on the counter so that everything would be ready to cook once they came back home.

Internally nodding to himself, Sasuke deemed the house perfect.

He looked at the time again, and saw that he was only a few minutes away from the end of the therapy session.

Screw the main roads; Sasuke was in a hurry so he jumped over the rooftops to the hospital.

He had actually arrived early, so Sasuke waited for Naruto by the garden outside.

Sasuke waited, and waited. He wondered why he kept making sure to arrive on time when Naruto and the others obviously considered the ending time as a mere suggestion.

_Finally_, Naruto walked out of the front door with Sakura by his side.

Naruto was smiling, but not as wide as usual whenever he spoke with Sakura.

Sakura was the one who noticed Sasuke first, and she waved at him. Naruto seemed confused, and asked her something that Sasuke could not hear, but he guessed that it was Naruto asking her what she was waving at because Sakura turned to face Naruto, but she was pointing at Sasuke.

Naruto's expression lit up—something that made Sasuke internally smile—when he saw the Uchiha, and hard started to wave enthusiastically.

Sasuke lifted his hand in return, so that Naruto would not think that he was ignoring him.

Naruto began to rush forward, "Guess what?" he called ahead.

"What?" Sasuke responded.

"I can start training soon!" Naruto exclaimed, smiling, as he stopped in front of Sasuke.

Sasuke knew that Naruto was excited about this—after all, he had been asking to start training ever since he was released from solitary therapy—but he was not so sure how he himself felt about this.

What if Naruto was not ready for training and he flipped out? Sasuke remembered how hard Naruto had taken it when he was not able to handle meeting everyone for that first time; he did not want to repeat that for Naruto's sake.

He turned to Sakura and asked, "Can he really?"

Naruto frowned, though without any real malice, and said, "Bastard! Of course I can! Be supportive and shit!"

Sasuke ignored him and continued to stare at Sakura, waiting for his answer.

Sakura smiled, and said, "Yes, we believe that Naruto is ready. He even convinced Lady Tsunade, and she approved."

Sasuke nodded. If Tsunade cleared it, then he would accept this.

Then Sasuke motioned to Naruto that they were leaving. Naruto nodded and gave Sakura a hug, something that he was prone to whenever he left therapy nowadays just to prove to himself that he could have physical contact with others and not flip out.

They turned to leave, but Sakura called out, "Sasuke, wait!"

Naruto looked confused as Sasuke held back an internal sigh. What did the woman want now?

He was about to turn, but Sakura beat him to it and whispered in his ear, "Lady Tsunade wanted me to tell you that you can't have sex with Naruto until she gives her approval. We don't know how that could affect him physically or mentally."

Sasuke turned to glare at her.

"I would _never_ consider forcing Naruto into something that he is not comfortable with. I was not even _considering_ doing anything like that tonight," he hissed at her.

Sakura took a step back, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she apologized.

After a moment, Sasuke nodded. He would not say that he forgave her, but he had accepted that she had apologized.

Sakura left, and Naruto leaned against Sasuke, and then he asked, "What happened?"

Sasuke laced their hands together and lied, "She told me that I shouldn't use any chakra near you, and I told her that I knew."

"But she seemed upset," Naruto observed.

Sasuke was about to elaborate, but then Naruto yawed.

"Tired?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto shook his head adamantly and said, "No!" but then he yawed again.

"Yes you are," Sasuke told Naruto as he removed his hand from Naruto's to wrap around his waist so that he could guide him home while Naruto leaned on him as he tended to do whenever he was tired.

"Noooooooo, I'm not," Naruto insisted.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted.

"I told you I'm not!" exclaimed Naruto.

Sasuke did not answer because he did not need to; Naruto had yawned yet again.

He led Naruto home, taking the back streets so that they would not be stopped. Naruto lent on his shoulder the entire time, not that Sasuke was complaining, but that did put a slight hamper on his mood. Naruto might be too tired for their date.

When they got home, Sasuke led Naruto to the couch and asked, "Do you want me to make dinner?"

Naruto smiled at him and asked, "I thought you said that I could learn how to cook earlier?"

"When did I say that?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto shrugged languidly, "Earlier?"

Sasuke gave a small smile, and said, "Yes, we can cook together."

Naruto gave a blinding smile in return, and he hauled himself off of the couch.

They both headed to the kitchen, and Naruto exclaimed, "Wow! Everything is all set up!"

Sasuke nodded, "We're making curry tonight."

"Whoa! Really?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke nodded again, "The way that my mother used to make it."

Naruto was silent for a moment, then he said, "I bet it'll be the most delicious in the world, then."

Sasuke allowed himself a nostalgic smile, "Yes, it is," he agreed.

The two started to make the dinner, with Sasuke—repeatedly—telling Naruto _exactly_ what to do, and repeated the instructions again whenever Naruto would pause mid-movement. Naruto would defend that he knew what he was doing, but failed to repeat any of the instructions when asked.

Sasuke took control of finishing the actual curry, and left Naruto to cook the rice. While the usuratonkachi may not have been a wonder-chef, he at least knew how to properly cook rice.

"Do you think you can finish everything up in here?" Sasuke asked.

"Hmm? Yeah, sure. Why? Need to take a piss or something?" Naruto asked over his shoulder before he yawned again.

"Hn," Sasuke denied.

"Alright, alright, don't get your panties twisted, I was only asking," said Naruto as he returned his attention to the rice.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted again, leaving the kitchen. The curry was already finished so he did not need to worry about Naruto doing anything to it.

He went to the dining room and began preparing everything for the romantic date that he had planned. Nothing fancy, just a candlelit dinner that they had made together. Very romantic in Sasuke's opinion.

He might have even remembered his mother preparing something similar for his father when he was younger. She had let Itachi and Sasuke "help" make dinner one time for their father's birthday, and then after they had set up the candles while she finished cooking, she had asked Itachi to take Sasuke to their Aunt and Uncle's house and for the two of them to spend the night there.

At the time, Sasuke hadn't thought much of it. He enjoyed spending time with the warm presence of his older brother and mother, and his Aunt and Uncle always let him stay up late, so it was a win-win for him.

The memory made him internally smile as he set up the candles. He had two on the table between them, and several more throughout the room so that things would not be too dark; plus, Naruto always loved trying to lightly blow on candles to see the flame move and would mostly accidentally blow them out.

"Hey bastard," Naruto's voice called out, "quit fapping and get ready! The rice is finished!"

Perfect.

"Bring the plates out here," called out Sasuke in return.

"Where?" Naruto asked.

"The dining room," Sasuke answered.

"Alright, alright, I'll be your little maid, _sir_," Naruto called out sarcastically.

Sasuke had to diligently school himself to _not_ create a mental image.

Naruto entered the room with two plates and gasped when he saw the candles on the table.

"Wha…" he gaped at the room, "Sasuke?"

"Naruto," Sasuke greeted, taking the plates out of his hands so there was no chance of them getting dropped.

"What…what is this?" Naruto asked, his eyes still wide as he gaped.

"Dinner," Sasuke answered, setting the plates down on the table.

"No…" Naruto said slowly, "DINNER is the food… I asked WHAT is _this_?"

"Candles," Sasuke told him.

Naruto rolled his eyes, "Yes, I can see that. But why—"

"Because I wanted to," Sasuke cut him off, and before Naruto could say anything else, he finished with, "for you."

Naruto was silent for a moment before asking, "Is…is this a… a dat—"

"It can be," Sasuke cut him off again, "if you want it to be. Or, it can just be dinner while trying out a lot of candles."

Naruto nodded, but it seemed like mostly to give himself something to do so he wouldn't fidget.

"Uh…," Naruto stammered.

"Understand that I am in no way pressuring you to consider this a date, or us as lovers. I simply wanted to do this, and so I did," Sasuke explained.

Naruto nodded again, and then he unsuccessfully tried to suppress a yawn. Then he said, "Ah, screw it. I'm tired, so let's get in with this da-date."

Sasuke nodded, and kept his expression composed, but on the inside, he was smiling like a fool in love.

They both sat down and started to eat their dinner, proclaiming it to be the best that they had ever eaten. The curry was just like Sasuke remembered his mother making it.

While they ate, Naruto, never one for silences, began to recount how he was progressing in his therapy. He continuously yawned throughout the explanation, though. According to him, the longer therapy session was better than his usual therapy sessions.

Naruto was also _very_ excited to be able to train again soon.

By the time they were finished with dinner, Naruto was swaying minutely with exhaustion. Sasuke had commented on it before, but the blonde had vehemently denied being tired.

"Would you like a bath?" Sasuke asked his usuratonkachi.

"Huh? Wha?" Naruto asked after a yawn.

"Bath?" Sasuke repeated.

"Huh? Oh, sure," Naruto replied.

"I'll go prepare it, then," said Sasuke, getting up from his chair.

"Why?" Naruto asked, sounding truly confused.

"Because you are tired and are likely to let it run over," Sasuke deadpanned.

Naruto was about to protest, but before he could say anything, he yawned.

Sasuke smirked, and said, "See?"

"Oh shuddup," said Naruto, "I thought that you were just being a perv and trying something pervy in the bathtub like a pervert."

Sasuke kept his outward composure. He had honestly not thought about that, but now that Naruto had brought up the idea, Sasuke had a _lot_ of trouble trying to keep it out of his mind. He was also having trouble keeping certain images out of his mind.

He was going to have to take a cold shower later.

Sasuke managed to say, "Do you think you said 'perv' enough times, usuratonkachi?"

Naruto stuck his tongue out at Sasuke and said, "Perv."

"Hn," Sasuke grunted as he made his way to the bathroom.

While he was preparing the bath, Sasuke heard a yawn behind him.

"Usuratonkachi," Sasuke greeted, not turning around.

"You were nice today," Naruto announced loudly, his voice reverberating within the bathroom walls.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted, "is that a problem?"

"No!" Naruto immediately denied, "But…you were like…_really_ nice,"

Sasuke inwardly sighed, and he stopped running the water, the tub was full enough anyway, and stood up. He walked over to Naruto and stopped right in front of him.

"Yes. I was _nice_. And I will CONTINUE to be _nice_," he told Naruto, "for you."

"Me?" Naruto's face scrunched up in confusion.

Sasuke had to restrain himself from rolling his eyes.

"Yes, usuratonkachi, YOU. I am nice to you because I love you. Now are you going to take your bath or not?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto yawned and nodded his head somewhat sleepily.

Sasuke nodded as well and started to leave, but then he felt a hand grabbing onto his forearm. He looked at Naruto, silently asking why he was holding onto Sasuke's arm.

Naruto was not facing him, and was seemingly purposefully looking away.

There was silence, and Sasuke was about to verbally ask why Naruto was holding onto his arm when Naruto asked in a quieter voice than usual, "Do you…uhm…do…do you want…ugh, DAMMIT!"

"What?" Sasuke asked, not letting any of his confusion be heard in his voice.

Naruto sucked in some air before practically shouting, "Do you want to take the damn bath with me or not?"

Sasuke had to check himself to see whether or not he was dreaming. They had eaten dinner, his stomach was full enough to prove that. He had no memory of going to bed; _Naruto_ was the one who was tired, not Sasuke. He remembered going to prepare the bath and doing that… He could feel the floor underneath him, and he could see Naruto fidgeting.

"Well? Do you or not, Bastard?" Naruto asked, facing Sasuke to glare to glare at him.

This was definitely real. "Hn," he grunted as an affirmative.

Naruto rolled his eyes, "Always so articulate."

"You know that word?" Sasuke asked, pretending to sound incredulous.

"SHUTUP, BASATRD!" Naruto shouted, turning around as he walked closer to the tub, "Turn around, perv, I'm getting in first."

"Hn," Sasuke grunted, telling the other that he understood and that he wouldn't look.

"And no funny business!" Naruto's voice warned him as Sasuke turned around.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted in return, assuring the other that it would be a chaste bath, and that he would not ruin it by acting like, as Naruto had put it, a "perv".

"Good," Naruto said. Then Sasuke heard the water in the tub splashing, indicating that Naruto was getting into the tub. The suggestion was confirmed when Naruto said, louder than necessary, "Alright! I'm in! You can get in too now."

"Hn," Sasuke grunted, letting the other know that he heard him. When he turned around, he saw that the reason that Naruto had spoken louder than necessary was because the blonde was turned around, and therefore must have assumed in that empty head of his that he needed to shout in order to be heard if his back was turned.

The Uchiha stripped out of his clothes and folded them in a neat pile, placing it next to the messy heap of clothes Naruto had obviously thrown to the side. Then, following Naruto's orders, Sasuke got into the tub.

He sat down within the tub as Naruto yawned rather widely.

"Tired, usuratonkachi?" Sasuke asked, provoking Naruto.

"No," Naruto immediately refuted, "YOU'RE tired."

Sasuke internally rolled his eyes and outwardly allowed himself to smirk, "Of course."

"Shut up," Naruto intelligently replied, yawning again.

"You're tired," Sasuke deadpanned, as it was becoming clear that the warm water was doing nothing to wake up the blonde and the possibility of Naruto falling asleep in the tub was quickly becoming an inevitability.

"No, I'm—" Naruto tried to say.

"Naruto," Sasuke cut him off.

The blonde was silent, and then tried valiantly to suppress another large yawn, but failed. But still, he did not admit that Sasuke was right.

Sasuke internally sighed, and ordered, "Turn around."

Naruto's eyes suddenly widened, and he demanded, "What? Why?"

Sasuke minutely narrowed his eyes, and said, "I'm going to wash your back. You are too tired."

Naruto was about to protest, but Sasuke's slightly glare silenced him, so he gave a glare of his own, but acquiesced to Sasuke's demand.

Sasuke _did_ wash Naruto's back for him, but only for a few minutes before he pulled Naruto against him. Lucky for him, Naruto was in too much of a sleepy state to put up any resistance other than mumbling a clear warning of "no funny business".

The Uchiha was in his bliss. Their date had turned out to be everything and more than what he had imagined. And it was all because of the blonde n his arms.

To show his appreciated, Sasuke placed a kiss atop Naruto's head, believing that he was asleep.

Then Naruto mumbled something.

"What?" Sasuke asked, "I didn't hear you," he clarified just in case Naruto thought he was being rude. He normally wouldn't bother, but Naruto was always a special exception.

"I said be my boyfriend, bastard," Naruto repeated, louder and clearer than before.

Sasuke froze for a moment, and had to compose himself and try very hard to keep a silly grin from forming across his face, but allowed a small one as he said, "I was supposed to ask YOU."

"Well tough tits," said Naruto as he pathetically lifted his head before thumping it back against the shoulder it had been resting on.

Sasuke chuckled, and then he answered, "Yes."

"Mmm," Naruto grunted as his own tired confirmant that he had heard Sasuke, and he smiled a tired, but real, wide smile.

* * *

Naruto was proud of himself, and he felt happiest than he had ever felt since being told that he was waking up two years in the future, er, present.

That part still confused Naruto, so he never thought much about it.

But he was still proud of himself: he had successfully survived a week of his extended therapy sessions.

Today was _technically_ still a therapy session, even though it would not be held at the hospital.

He had finally convinced Granny Tsunade to let him REALLY spar!

He had _thought_ that she had agreed with him earlier, but what he had learned on his second day of extended therapy that what SHE had actually meant by him "sparring" was Naruto training against wooden posts; basically what he did when he was in the academy!

That wasn't sparring!

Unfortunately for him, though, Granny Tsunade was adamant about the academy "training" stuff instead of REAL sparring against someone. She kept blabbing on and on about chakra levels and triggers and other warning stuff.

It sucked and was annoying.

So, FINALLY, two days ago, Naruto had convinced her to allow him to go into his own mind and talk with Kyuubi to see what the Kyuubi thought about everything. After all, Kurama knew best about what was going on with Naruto's mind and chakra and stuff while he was being controlled and all that stuff even though Kurama couldn't do anything about it at the time.

Granny Tsunade was originally against the idea though. She was still under the impression that Naruto and the Kyuubi were still at odds with each other, and that the Kyuubi would take over Naruto's mind and body at the first chance presented. Even though Naruto had explained that he and Kyuubi—he couldn't say Kurama's true name to anyone on Kurama's orders—had gotten passed their differences and were friends and allies with each other, she had still refused.

It was not until Sasuke had testified that while he had delved into Naruto's mind and saw Kyuubi protecting Naruto and actively attempting to undo the mind control jutsu did Granny Tsunade BEGIN to consider letting Naruto talk with Kyuubi; something that she had forbidden from the get-go of therapy, even though Naruto had secretly popped in once or twice on his own time since he missed Kurama.

FINALLY, though, as long as precautions were set, Granny Tsunade had agreed to let Naruto meditate during the extended therapy session.

So two days ago, with Captain Yamato in the room, Naruto was allowed to OFICIALLY speak with Kyuubi.

It had been a quick reunion. Kurama was not in the mood to talk; something that happened frequently and Naruto had learned to not question, like he normally would with others. Besides, Kurama had previously told him that Kurama had been working ceaselessly throughout the two years Naruto had been controlled to attempt to undo the weakness, or at least not let it affect the subconscious mind both Kurama and Naruto were residing in; so Kurama had been resting these past three months. And, in Kurama's words, Kurama was enjoying the peace after two years of being stuck with Naruto being unable to leave the subconscious and leave Kurama alone.

But that didn't meant that Naruto had to keep himself from entangling himself in Kurama's tails. He had actually missed their warmth and fluffiness from when he was being controlled.

Naruto had kept the visit short, and asked only the questions that he had told Granny Tsunade he would ask: whether or not it was safe to use his chakra, and if anything in sparring could be a trigger to his flipping out.

Kurama had rolled its gigantic demon eyes at Naruto's wording, and had explained in small words that Naruto had to hold himself back from things like Sage Mode and from using large quantities of Kurama's chakra, but only for a while and that Kurama could control their chakra enough to make sure that there should not be a trigger, chakra and battle-wise, at least. Kurama could do nothing about Naruto's emotional triggers or Naruto's own mental lack of control when that happens, simply because that was in Naruto's head, and Kurama had plainly said that it could not fix anything there, and had said so n=in an insulting way, making Naruto half-heartedly hit his pillow/Kurama's tail.

They had said their goodbyes after Naruto had promised Kurama that the demon could take over his body sometime when they had a day off, with the conditions that Kurama not use much chakra, basically keep the whole thing a secret while it was in Naruto's body, and to not maim and/or kill anyone.

That last part was supposed to be a joke, but Kurama seemed rather put off when Naruto had said that, making him suspect that Kurama's blood lust was still alive and kicking.

When Naruto had returned to himself, he had explained to Granny Tsunade what the Kyuubi had said, and she had FINALLY agreed to let him spar!

Better yet, Sakura had suggested that they attempt to have another group meeting, and Granny Tsunade had agreed! Naruto had seen many of the villagers on walks, but he hadn't been able to see his friends since he had flipped out on them since he had basically only been going to and from therapy and staying at home. Plus, a bunch of his friends had been on missions, according to Sakura, since THEY weren't being restricted from using THEIR chakra.

Not that Naruto was frustrated at that or anything…

Today had been the chosen day that they try the group meeting again. Naruto had wanted to do it yesterday, but Granny Tsunade had insisted that they do trial tests on Naruto's chakra in therapy yesterday before he attempted to actually spar. Naruto had trained a bit against Kakashi and Sasuke, but in boring, controlled situations where neither side was really trying to do anything besides see that Naruto did not flip out when he used his chakra or had chakra used against him.

They even had Sakura try to take a few swipes at him—Naruto had even provoked her by teasing her about her old crush on the bastard, thus making it real—and he STILL didn't flip out!

So Naruto was very confident about today; more so than before with the earlier failed group meeting.

He had every reason to be, after all, villagers were able to approach him and pat him on the back, and he could use chakra and everything! Plus, Kurama had said that it was keeping an eye on his chakra levels so there was no chance of flipping out because of that!

"Ready?"

Sasuke's voice had startled Naruto a bit out of his daydreaming.

Naruto looked up at him from where he sat at their back porch, smiling as he said, "Yep!"

Sasuke smirked, and said, "Then let's go, usuratonkachi."

"BASTARD!" Naruto shouted back, but mostly out of habit and because he was in a good mood.

Another thing that really boosted his confidence was Sasuke's sureness in him and that he would not flip out. They were both so certain, that neither of them had even brought up the idea of making exit strategies!

Naruto followed Sasuke out of the door, and rushed ahead of him.

"Hurry up!" he demanded as he turned his head back so that he could face the bastard while still walking forwards.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow and grunted at him, meaning that he didn't need to speed up at all.

Naruto squinted his eyes and stuck out his tongue at Sasuke, then continued speed-walking forwards to get to the training grounds faster.

But it turned out that the bastard was right.

Like with all the other times Naruto had gone out for a walk, villagers had approached him, telling him that it was nice to see him out and about again. Some had even told him that they were glad that he had recovered so well from his injuries, confusing Naruto. When was he injured? He didn't make anything out of it, though.

He just wanted to move passed them and get to the training grounds! He would have thought that him walking around for the past week and a half would get the villagers used to him and everything, but apparently not. Usually that would not have been a problem, since Naruto loved the _good_ attention he was getting since the battle with Pain, but he was in a hurry!

By the time he had gotten passed a large group of them and was simply shaking hands as he walked, Sasuke had caught up to him, with a smug smirk on his face.

Bastard.

Oh well, no matter. Naruto was allowed to spar today, so he would kick Sasuke's bastard ass later.

They had arrived at Team Seven's usual training grounds later than they had expected due to all the people that had greeted Naruto, so they were the last two to show up.

"HI, EVERYONE!" Naruto exclaimed, waving his arms at them and smiling widely.

People had greeted him enthusiastically in return, but Naruto had immediately noticed that they kept their distance from him.

"You don't have to stay away from me now, I'm all better now," Naruto told them. He couldn't help but be put off by being physically ostracized by other people like when he was a child.

"Can ya blame us, man?" Kiba asked him, "After all, LAST time you went out of your mind and knocked me out!"

Naruto forced himself to laugh and say loudly, "I'd do that when I'm in my right mind, you dog!"

"Hey!" Kiba exclaimed in protest, but it was ignored by the people laughing at his expense.

"I'm really better now! Look!" Naruto insisted, wrapping an arm around Sasuke's neck and pulling him into a mock-chokehold.

"That doesn't prove anything since its Uchiha," Kina insisted, folding his arms.

"What does that mean?" Naruto demanded, accidentally pulling Sasuke's neck a little harder than he meant to, causing Sasuke to punch him in the gut to let him go.

Kiba looked like he was going to reply, but oddly enough, Hinata cut him off, "H-he doesn't mean anything N-Naruto," she said in her soft voice.

Naruto was impressed that she had only stuttered twice. Maybe she had gained some confidence in this future-present! He smiled at her, making her blush a bit, though only her cheeks, something else that Naruto was proud of her for.

"Then how about this?" Naruto asked, letting go of Sasuke, and turning to Sakura and draping his arm over her shoulder.

Kiba looked like he was about to answer in the negative, but he was silenced by someone else; Naruto was not paying attention.

Instead, he took his arm off of Sakura, and he asked, "How about this?"

"What?" Kiba asked.

Naruto did not answer. Instead, he rushed forwards and punched Kiba in the cheek.

"Hey! What the hell, man?" Kiba demanded from the ground as he rubbed his cheek.

Naruto placed his hands on his hips and proclaimed loudly, "I _told_ you I am better!"

Kiba looked like he was going to respond, but was cut off by Ino, "Wow! So we can like, get near you again?"

Naruto nodded happily, and was immediately hugged by Ino.

She laughed and said, "Good! Because it's been weird to see you but know that we can't get near you!"

Naruto was going to reply, but then he felt more arms wrap around him on his other side. He turned his head to see that it was Sakura who was hugging him as well.

She giggled and said, "I know, right? It's good to have you back!"

"Uh…you see me almost every day?" Naruto was happy that Sakura was being so affectionate, but he was honestly wondering why. Maybe it was a woman thing?

She gave a dramatic sigh and said, "Oh shut up and just let me enjoy this."

Naruto nodded, thinking it best to just agree with her and not say anything.

Then he felt arms wrap around his waist from behind him.

He was going to ask who was hugging him this time, but he heard Lee ask, "TenTen! What are you doing?"

TenTen's voice said from behind him, "It's a girl thing, Lee."

Naruto decided to make no comment that TenTen was one of the butchest females he had ever met.

Chouji laughed and said, "Wow, you are so popular, Naruto."

"What can I say? It's a talent," Naruto told him in response.

Ino then said, "C'mon, Hinata! You should join this little group!"

Hinata jumped a little when she was addressed, and had blushed very hard. "Uh, uhm," she stuttered.

Naruto felt for her, and said, "There's no need for that. I just want to spar…"

He then felt a hand on his jacket and he found himself being pulled away from the ladies. The he heard a familiar, "Hnm" letting him know exactly who had moved him.

"Whoa, hey!" Ino spluttered in surprise.

"What's the big idea?" Sakura chimed in.

"You were touching too much," Sasuke clipped, his grip still firm on Naruto's jacket.

The girls had given him confused looks, silently asking why did it matter so much.

Naruto saw these looks, and decided that he should tell everyone that he and Sasuke were dating…

"Well, uh, you see," Naruto started to say, rubbing the back of his neck and avoiding meeting people's eyes.

Then Sasuke cut him off and asked, "We came here for Naruto to spar. So who wants to spar with him?"

Naruto was about to ask Sasuke about why he had changed the subject, when Sakura spoke up, saying, "I think that Neji should spar with him."

"Wait, what?" Naruto had been under the impression that he would be sparring with his bastard. He then promptly shut himself up when he realized that he had referred to Sasuke as 'his bastard' and had to focus on not giving any outburst. So he sucked in his lips between his teeth and clamped down. There was a _slight_ chance he looked ridiculous, if Sasuke's muttered 'usuratonkachi' was any indication.

"With his Byakugan, Neji will be able to keep a close eye on your chakra levels," Sakura replied, nonplused by Naruto's expression or giving any indication that he was doing anything out of the ordinary. So many he looked normal. "Plus," she continued, "if anything DOES go wrong—not that it will!—then he can stop you with his Gentle Fist."

Naruto was barely following what she had said and replied, "Yea, sure," in somewhat of a daze, still trying to calm himself from his own internal upsurge. He then let himself get guided to the middle of the training grounds by Sakura.

Neji had followed them, apparently agreeing to Sakura's demands.

After she had led Naruto to his appointed position on the training grounds, Naruto watched Sakura back away to join the others who were sitting on the sidelines.

Sakura and Hinata had worried expressions despite their trying to hide them; they were probably assuming that Neji actually _would_ need to subdue Naruto. Kiba, Lee, Chouji, Ino and TenTen had anticipating expressions, clearly expecting a good fight like Naruto and Neji's last match during the Chuunin exams. Wow, it had been that long? The excited looks had calmed Naruto down a bit and let him focus on his upcoming sparring match with the Hyuuga. He tried to ignore Shikamaru and Sasuke's serious expressions. They were both somewhat stoic; Shikamaru was probably analyzing all probable outcomes, and Sasuke was well, Sasuke.

Naruto shifted his attention back to Neji, who was assessing Naruto with his pale eyes.

The blonde waited for a full thirty seconds for Neji to make the first move. That was what he was supposed to do, right? Take things easy and safe and spar on the defensive?

But it took too long!

So Naruto launched at Neji as soon as the thirty seconds were up.

He formed the hand seal, and created three clones while he ran. He remembered what Kurama had told him about pacing himself, so he internally set a boundary of less than ten clones at a time, no Kyuubi mode, and no Sage mode. But those didn't matter, since he could still kick Neji's ass silly even with these restrictions.

Naruto sent two of the clones to attack Neji from two sides at once. He held one back to form a Rasengan.

Like expected, Neji easily disposed of Naruto's two clones with his Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven.

But that didn't matter, as they were only meant to keep the Hyuuga preoccupied as Naruto formed his Rasengan.

With the fully formed orb of swirling chakra, Naruto himself rushed towards Neji while his clone behind him formed two more clones.

Naruto knew that Neji operated best within close range attacks, so he decided to keep things close as today was not meant for victory—even though that was inevitable with Naruto's sheer awesomeness—but to challenge himself.

He charged for Neji and saw that the Hyuuga was following his movements and preparing himself to intercept Naruto's attack. Judging from how Neji was focusing on the arm with the Rasengan, Naruto knew that Neji planned to use his Gentle Fist to block the chakra in that arm and thus render Naruto unable to attack with his Rasengan or form any more.

So instead of following through with his attack, Naruto stopped just in front of Neji's range.

Neji's pale eyes widened a fraction, but that did not slow him down as he stepped forward to attack.

But Naruto then aimed his Rasengan on the ground, causing the dirt to fly everywhere, effectively blinding Neji momentarily.

As soon as Neji closed his eyes to avoid the dirt, one of Naruto's clones emerged from behind the real Naruto and through the dust.

The clone jumped above the real Naruto and swung his leg from the left to kick Neji to the ground.

The clone's foot made contact, but as soon as it did, Neji's hand wrapped around the ankle and he threw the clone to the side.

As Neji swung his body to throw the still airborne clone, another one of Naruto's three clones attacked from behind, intent on tripping Neji over so he could not use his Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven.

But Neji had his Byakugan activated, so after he threw the first clone to the side, he continued his rotation and used his Gentle Fist to dispose of the second clone.

As the clones dispersed, Naruto could feel the experience come back to him. No more waves of attack.

With that in mind, Naruto let his Rasengan fade.

He waited a moment. Then, as his third clone descended down to attack Neji from above, the real Naruto crouched down to attack from below.

Neji must have seen this coming with his Byakugan, because before either his clone or the real Naruto could get into range, Neji enacted his Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven, effectively knocking them both back.

Naruto grunted as the third clone dispersed and the loss came back to him. He needed to get into Neji's range and keep things to taijutsu until Naruto could get the upper hand to use his Rasengan again.

So Naruto created seven clones. He sent the first four to Neji, two at a time, and kept the three close to himself.

The first two clones were disposed of like the first time with Neji's Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven while the second two waited outside its range. Neji wouldn't be able to keep revolving around forever.

Neji must have noticed that the second set of clones were stationary, because he ended his rotation.

He was about to start rotating again, but Naruto's clones were waiting for just that moment and got within the rotation range before Neji could start again.

While they both kept Neji busy with taijutsu, Naruto sent two more of his three remaining clones to join in the fray.

The clones were keeping Neji's hands busy while they avoided his Gentle Fist, so Naruto chose then to use his last clone to help him form a Rasengan.

Then, Neji was able to land a hand on one of the clone's chests, effectively dispersing it.

When it came back to Naruto, the effect of Neji's Gentle Fist came back to Naruto as well. It was not enough to block off the chakra, but it _did_ disrupt the flow for a moment.

That made the Rasengan falter a bit, but before it could fade, Naruto and his clone poured more chakra into it. The Rasengan reformed, so Naruto sent out the last clone to join the three others.

The action proved necessary, as Neji seemed to have hit his stride and was gaining the upper hand while he fought the now four clones surrounding him.

Neji then hit another clone with his Gentle Fist.

As the clone dispersed, Naruto's chakra was slightly disrupted again and the Rasengan faltered another time, so Naruto had to pour even more chakra into it to maintain control.

Neji disposed to two more clones, disrupting Naruto's chakra more.

Naruto decided that it was time for him to attack Neji with his Rasengan; timing be damned.

As Naruto rushed forward, he was surprised by the speed he was running with. He didn't notice it before, but he was definitely running faster than he remembered his usual speed to be.

This made him look up, and he saw that his clone's own hits landing on Neji were harder than what Naruto remembered his usual strength to be. He briefly wondered why this could be when he was suddenly assaulted with a memory of him—or at least his body—training with S-Sai…

Naruto stumbled a bit and had to place his free hand on the ground to stable himself as he continued forwards.

No! He couldn't deal with that! He was getting BETTER! He was sparring with Neji at the moment. He couldn't falter!

Unfortunately, his hesitation cost him his newfound speed. So, when Naruto approached, Neji was ready for him.

The Hyuuga easily dodged Naruto's attack and had even landed a Gentle Fist attack on Naruto's shoulder; blocking off the chakra.

Naruto froze.

He could feel that something was not right.

"STOP!" he shouted, holding up a hand.

Neji did stop, and was looking Naruto over with his Byakugan.

He didn't need too, because Naruto could tell that something was wrong. He could feel his chakra reacting strangely to being blocked, and was getting a headache.

It felt almost exactly like when he was waking up from being controlled.

"WHAT'S WRONG?" Naruto heard Sakura's voice shout.

He heard people's voices and footsteps rushing towards him.

"DON'T GET CLOSE TO ME!" Naruto shouted, flinging at arm out in their direction while the other grasped his head in an effort to somehow alleviate his pain.

He heard somebody telling the others to listen to what Naruto had said, but he didn't pay attention to that. He needed to stop whatever his chakra was doing.

He sunk to his knees and tried to regulate his breathing. Breathe. He needed to breathe.

Once he was able to stabilize his breathing, Naruto closed his eyes and attempted to meditate.

He treated it like he was going into Sage Mode. He kept still as a statue in his strange pose of holding out an arm to the side and his other hand on his head and focused on calming his chakra.

He found his center and imagined himself back on Mount Myōboku.

While he meditated, he felt Kurama within his mind. There was no need for the cage, so even though it was there, it was rarely closed except for when Kurama decided that it needed privacy, so the demon was able to move freely within Naruto's mind at times like now.

Naruto could feel Kurama using its own chakra to help stabilize Naruto's chakra.

'_What's going on?_' Naruto asked Kurama.

**Your chakra is reacting to being attacked directly, and is attempting to automatically switch to that 'attack mode' from when you were controlled**, Kurama answered from within Naruto's mind.

'_What do I do?!_' Naruto demanded to know.

**Keep doing what you are doing. I'll do the rest**, Kurama commanded.

Naruto internally nodded and continued his meditating. As he did so, he felt Kurama's chakra encircling his own.

He heard someone gasp and people exclaiming loud remarks which almost made Naruto falter. He forced himself to ignore them, but it was getting hard to do.

He concentrated harder on controlling himself and his chakra. Naruto could feel that Kurama was almost finished surrounding his chakra with its demonic chakra and knew that once that was completed, then Kurama would be able to finish the rest on its own.

It took a few more minutes, but finally, Naruto heard Kurama growl in his head, indicating that Naruto could stop meditating and that things were under control.

Naruto released an explosive sigh, and slumped his shoulders, completely exhausted.

He let his arm fall, but before it could hit the ground, he felt another hand grab it.

Naruto opened his eyes in surprise at the action. He saw Sasuke in front of him, holding his hand while kneeling down to be on his level on the ground.

"What happened?" Sasuke demanded to know in his usual stoic tone, but Naruto could hear the underlying concern.

Naruto smiled a tired grin and said, "My chakra was trying to switch into that 'attack mode' on me, but Kyuubi and I stopped it."

"Are you sure?" another voice asked from besides them.

Naruto looked up to the side and saw that it was Sakura who had spoken.

He aimed his sleepy grin at her, for it took a lot of energy to maintain control of his chakra, and said, "Yea, I'm alright now."

Sakura bit her lip and looked like she was going to ask more questions.

Luckily, Neji spoke up and said, "Naruto is correct. His chakra was spinning out of control, but he was able to stabilize it long enough for the Kyuubi to surround it with its own chakra and neutralize the threat."

So that's what Kurama did, huh.

"Kyuubi did?" Sakura asked, surprised by what Neji had said. _Why_ she was so surprised was beyond Naruto; he had been telling her and everyone else that he and Kurama had worked out their differences ages ago while he was being controlled so there was no problems at all. Some people were so untrusting and Naruto felt offended on Kurama's behalf.

Then Hinata stuttered, "N-Neji is righ-right, Sakura…" as she deactivated her own Byakugan.

Sakura still looked unconvinced, and then Sasuke deadpanned, "I could enter Naruto's mind and make sure for myself if needed."

Naruto closed his eyes and groaned, "Please don't. I already have a headache, and I don't need anyone else in my head." Not to mention that Kurama _really_ didn't like Sasuke or his Uchiha Sharingan, and would probably punish Naruto for letting him into his mind by making the headache worse somehow.

After Naruto finished speaking, Sasuke surprised Naruto by getting up to walk around him. Naruto didn't have any time to ask what he was doing because Sasuke sat back down behind him and held Naruto so that the blonde was leaning against the Uchiha.

The headache receded dramatically.

Naruto closed his eyes and sighed with relief, letting himself sag against his boyfriend.

"Awwwwwww!"

Naruto opened his eyes wide, suddenly realizing that they were in public and Ino was 'aww-ing' at them.

He tried to get up, but Sasuke held him down against his chest.

"So it's official, then?" Naruto heard Sakura asked while he struggled.

Naruto stopped struggling and looked up at her with his eyes squinted in confusion. "Eh?" he asked.

Sasuke, however, seemed to know what she was talking about, because he nodded his head against Naruto's and grunted, "Hn."

That made Sakura and Ino squeal loudly.

"Ah! What the hell is going on?" Kiba demanded to know, as he covered his sensitive ears. Naruto felt bad for him and his dog-like enhanced hearing.

Shikamaru sighed and explained, "Sasuke just confirmed that he and Naruto are dating."

"Wait, you mean they weren't already?" Kiba asked, shock evident in his voice.

"What do you mean 'already'?" Naruto asked.

Chouji was the one who answered, "Well, Sasuke never kept his feelings a secret, and you guys are living together so…"

"Because Granny Tsunade made me!" Naruto defended.

Naruto felt Sasuke chuckle slightly—but didn't hear it because the bastard was too quiet—and heard Sasuke say, "Usuratonkachi."

Naruto attempted to twist around to shout at his now publicly announced boyfriend. But when he failed because of the bastard keeping him strapped to his chest, Naruto simply shouted out, "SHUTUP, TEME!"

People were laughing at his expense, Naruto was sure, but he didn't care. He was able to fight off switching to attack mode by himself—with help from Kurama, but that was still in his head so now outside help—and the ones he cared about had accepted his relationship with the very male Sasuke without pointing out how strange it was or even batting an eyelid.

Things were finally looking up, and Naruto couldn't have been happier.

* * *

**So that was the chapter!**

**Yeah, sorry about the delay. But I have excuses! I was working on another story and kinda got swept away by it. And during that there was personal drama and people acting like middle schoolers even in college while I wallowed away a recent breakup. Then there were finals, then moving back home for the summer, and now job-searching. **

**Yeaaa, and also laziness. I admit it, I am lazy. I get most of my incentives to keep writing from reviewers, and most of recent reviews have been about other stories. But I don't like abandoning stories! So my focus this summer, asides from real-world stuff like jobs and stuff, will be to finish a couple of these stories that I have been neglecting. So help me stay on task with reviews, please.**

**And as an apology, I had combined two chapters into one. Isn't that nice?**

**Thanks!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

**I feel kinda bad. I have the entire story outlined for this one, and it helps organize my thoughts, but outlining sort of inhibits my creativity in a way so I can't branch out. I usually end up getting stuck with my outlined pieces on elaborating bullet point notes into entire paragraphed scenes instead of one sentence. That is what takes me so long sometimes. It came to the point where some stories I refuse to outline, but then it takes a while to figure out where I want to go with the story. It gets confuzzling, and in the end I end up completely ruled by the whims of my muse who gets tired of certain stories quickly. It can get aggravating, I know, and I apologize.**

**Onwards with the chapter!**

* * *

Sasuke wanted to treat Naruto to something nice. The idiot had been working himself ragged with his new training schedule, so Sasuke felt that he needed a proper break.

He had suggested taking a break to rest earlier, but Naruto had declined—rather forcefully—insisting that he could not afford to stop training. When Sasuke had tried to reason with him, saying that the constant work would wear down on his body, Naruto had easily waved it off, saying that the Kyuubi would make sure that no damage was permanent.

Sasuke had tried to gently explain why Naruto needed the break, reminding him that it was easier to flip out when he pushed himself too hard. But Naruto had told him firmly that he had everything under control, along with the Kyuubi. Sasuke had tried to tell him that Naruto should not rely too much on the Kyuubi to fix things. But Naruto had said that he wasn't, and that the demon was working on its own, and only stepping in when it felt that it was necessary.

The Uchiha had even tried to tell Sakura to tell the usuratonkachi to take a break soon—since Naruto sometimes listened to her when he would not listen to Sasuke—but Sakura had only giggled.

She had said that the effort was useless, and that Sasuke's efforts were only spurring Naruto to work harder.

Sakura had also spoken about other times when Naruto had gotten serious over training, describing how she would make daily portions of her 'special Sakura energy food' when Naruto was learning how to control his Wind elemental chakra. She had claimed that without her, he might have passed out from chakra exhaustion because he refused to allow himself any breaks, save for necessary sleep, and of course eating her food.

While Sasuke had reservations about believing the bit about how Sakura's food had much effect on anything—for Naruto had once invited Sasuke to observe Kiba being forced fed some 'homemade energy pills' by Sakura after he had convinced her that Kiba was in desperate need of it in punishment for Akamaru peeing on one of Naruto's plants—he believed the part about Naruto's determination.

He had forgotten how serious the blonde got when faced with a challenge in light of his worry over Naruto's recovery, as well as his own lull in skill range as he himself was restricted to only D-rank missions for the foreseeable future.

While Sasuke admired Naruto's drive, and it was actually one of the qualities that he loved the most about his Naruto, it was frustrating Sasuke. This determination had always been an endless source of strength for the usuratonkachi, and served as a beacon of hope for others. It was also the current source of Sasuke's disagreement with his lover.

Naruto believed that he needed to work himself ragged continuously in order to achieve his goal; but Sasuke knew that he _needed_ a break.

So Sasuke went over Naruto's head and went to the one person he knew worried almost as much as he did and was in a position to _do_ something about it: Tsunade.

When Sasuke had suggested that Naruto take a break, the Hokage had readily agreed. The Uchiha might not have been her favorite person, but it was obvious that she trusted him with Naruto's health. Or at least, she trusted his judgment on this issue.

Tsunade had told Sasuke yesterday that today would be officially Naruto's day off.

She had already told Naruto, who fought against it. But, she had told him to consider it a mission. When he still seemed skeptical, she had ordered him to supervise Sasuke's D-rank assignments, claiming that Kakashi and Sakura were otherwise occupied.

Naruto had accepted not going in for therapy after that. Later, when Naruto was busy speaking with Sakura, Tsunade had assured Sasuke that she would make sure that he would only be assigned one mission, and that it would be something that Naruto would enjoy.

Sasuke agreed with her impromptu idea, because the day was going to be for Naruto, not himself.

The first feat of the day was to wake Naruto up.

The Uchiha wanted Naruto to sleep in, but it was already after ten in the morning, and Sasuke needed his proper morning routine before going on a mission; even one as informal as a D-rank.

While he COULD have done everything himself, Sasuke much preferred to spend his morning with his boyfriend. His now _official_ boyfriend.

Sasuke was so pleased that he could show a small smile in public. He and Naruto were officially a couple, and they had announced so to their peers, and had been accepted. And that meant, that they were officially public; after all, two of the village's biggest gossips had witnessed their coming out as a couple.

His mission would start at quarter to noon, so he wanted to have enough time to be at the destination at least five minutes early; unlike a certain Sensei who was _always_ late. That had always encouraged Sasuke to be early to his missions; to show that he and whoever he represented were always more than punctual.

But there was a small conflict with waking Naruto.

On one hand, the early—in this case kind of very late—bird got the worm, and would be able to have a normal morning routine. On the other hand, Naruto looked adorable—not that Sasuke would say that out loud for his usuratonkachi hated that—while he slept.

The two had shared a room, and a futon, ever since Naruto had asked Sasuke to be his boyfriend, and Sasuke adored every minute that they had spent together in this room.

He knew that he should wake Naruto up, but at the same time, wondered if that was the best course to take.

Naruto had a nightmare of sorts last night. While he—unusually—said nothing, he had tossed and turned with a pained expression for a large portion of the night for Sasuke to be able to tell that it was indeed a nightmare. Sasuke had been unable to wake Naruto up last night, and all he could do was simply hold Naruto against himself.

It _seemed_ to work; there was the occasional whimper, but Naruto had stopped thrashing around or lashing out a limb.

After a while, Naruto's nightmare had gone away, or at least the frown on his face did, and his regular sleeping pattern of tossing and turning when not weighed down by one of Sasuke's own limbs.

Sasuke had already showered, and had returned to the futon to find Naruto turned completely around with his feet where his head used to be placed.

The Uchiha smirked. It was amazing how much Naruto could move unconsciously when left unsupervised.

He could not understand how Naruto could sleep so late. The two were usually up by seven, depending on how big of a breakfast they—Sasuke—wanted. The Uchiha _had_ slept in, all the way to seven thirty. He had spent the time he had awoken to simply watch his lover sleep peacefully in his arms.

He had done so for two and a half hours that felt like only a few minutes, until he felt slightly stalkerish when he remembered how much Naruto hated it when people stared. Then he took his shower, taking much longer than he usually would in the evening, intent on giving Naruto more time to sleep.

Now, half after ten, Sasuke felt that he had given Naruto more than enough time to sleep.

Sasuke walked over to the end of the futon, where Naruto's head currently was instead of his feet, and called out, "Naruto."

The blonde did not react. Not that Sasuke actually expected him to after living with him, but there was a fleeting hope since the Uchiha had allowed the Uzumaki to sleep in for so long.

Sasuke was undeterred. He had long since discovered a way to safely wake up his boyfriend. He knelt down on the ground and nuzzled his nose against Naruto's check. He then wrapped his arms around Naruto, giving him a squeeze and calling out, "Naruto," again.

"Mmph," Naruto groaned, squirming a little in Sasuke's arms.

Sasuke smiled gently, not letting go, and greeted, "Good morning," before placing a kiss on Naruto's whiskered cheek.

"Five more minutes," Naruto mumbled, leaning into Sasuke's embrace to sleep again.

"Not five more minutes. Now," said Sasuke in an affectionate tone. He remembered days when he shared similar debates with his mother and even Itachi in the mornings. He never thought that he would enjoy them, but Naruto had always proved the impossible possible, and Sasuke loved every minute of it.

"Nooooooo," Naruto mumbled, frowning slightly. Then he made to pull away from Sasuke to sleep some more.

"Yes," said Sasuke, a small smile in his lips.

Naruto frowned more with his eyes still stubbornly closed. Then he ordered, "Lie back down," in a tired tone.

"Why?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto yawned, "Because it's sleepy time, and you need to sleep more."

"No, it is not sleepy time," Sasuke 'argued' back, "It is time for you to wake up."

Naruto huffed. Then he snuggled up to Sasuke, reaching an arm to press against Sasuke's shoulder and pushed down, saying, "But I loooooooove you."

Sasuke smiled, "I love you too."

"So sleeeeep," Naruto mumbled against the chest he was trying to shove back down onto the futon.

"Nope," said Sasuke. He then wrapped his arms around Naruto and pulled him up to a sitting position.

Naruto cracked his eyes open and glared at Sasuke. "You suck," he said before he yawned.

"And I swallow," Sasuke replied with a smirk.

Naruto barely responded to that, simply nodding along to what Sasuke had said. Then he yawned again.

Sasuke then stood up. He held his hand out for Naruto, who stared at it blankly. "Ready to make breakfast?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto grinned up at Sasuke and grabbed the hand offered.

Since today was a day off, Sasuke decided that he would make a large breakfast. He, of course, was the one who made the majority of it as Naruto was still waking up and dozing off on the couch outside the kitchen. He would occasionally call out that he was awake whenever Sasuke would ask.

In the end, Sasuke had made himself an omelet, with waffles and pancakes for them to share. He also decided to indulge in something that he knew Naruto would love, and made Naruto one cup of instant ramen.

As expected, when Sasuke had called Naruto into the kitchen to eat at the counter, Naruto had immediately perked up, ran over to Sasuke and deafened him with a loud declaration of love, and immediately slurped the noodles happily.

There was barely any conversation over breakfast. Naruto had suddenly discovered how hungry he was, and had practically wolfed down the meal. Sasuke ate at a slower pace, and resigned to himself early that he would only eat his omelet and only one of pancake and waffle.

After Naruto had finished his meal and his milk, he was oddly silent. First, it was a clearly satisfied silence as he patted his belly and smiled at Sasuke, who was still eating. Then he looked out the window, and his face slowly began to fall.

"Is something wrong?" Sasuke asked, having noticed immediately.

Naruto glanced at Sasuke, then quickly schooled his expression to his masked smile. "Nothing's wrong," Naruto said in a chipper tone.

"Naruto," Sasuke deadpanned. It was obvious that the blonde was lying, and they both knew it.

Naruto sighed, faced Sasuke again, and mumbled something quietly.

"What?" Sasuke asked, pushing his plate to the side.

Naruto looked away and mumbled a bit louder, "…Don't be mad at me…"

"I promise," Sasuke said immediately, his expression never changing. On the inside, though, he was confused, and a little trepid. Naruto knew that Sasuke did not have many reasons to get mad whenever it was Naruto, so whatever it was, it must have been bad. But what could have changed overnight?

Naruto took a deep breath, looked up at Sasuke again with his expression clearly uneasy. "I had…another memory dream last night…" Naruto revealed, biting his lip.

Immediately Sasuke's eyes widened. "What about?" he asked, gently, but at the same time, wondering why a memory would make Sasuke angry, asides from livid with himself for not realizing that the nightmare was indeed a memory last night?

"I…" Naruto started to rub his arm and looked away, "I was standing lookout after a mission…"

Sasuke nodded seriously, urging Naruto to continue. He understood that these memories were painful, but he knew that Naruto needed to fully process them, and the easiest way to do so was to tell Sasuke to make sure he was not suppressing anything.

Naruto squinted his eyes shut, and began speaking in a mechanical, detached tone, "I sensed someone coming close, and turned around. The enemy stood still for a while before they got closer, so I had to go into my defensive state. Then they tried to touch me, so I had to go into my offensive state. They had stopped moving, but I lunged forwards and proceeded to attempt to neutralize the enemy. They blocked, and moved to counterattack, so I retreated a little and proceeded to grab a kunai and attack again."

Sasuke's eyes widened again. He recognized what Naruto was describing.

Naruto hunched his shoulders and continued talking in his detached tone, "I jumped up and attacked from above. The attack was blocked, so I used their shoulder as a base to distance myself from them and injure them in the process. I attacked again, but was blocked. The enemy then shocked me with an electrical attack, momentarily paralyzing me."

Sasuke stood up and quickly moved to the other side of the counter, needing to be closer to Naruto.

The blonde took another breath. His tone was unchanging. It sounded like an outside party reading from the mission report. He continued, "My mask was removed, and the enemy stopped moving, giving me time to recover. Once I did, I created a shadow clone and proceeded to enact a combination of attacks. My clone and I moved to either side of the enemy and tried to dismember the enemy while they were still frozen. The enemy jumped, and my clone and I tried to intercept them midair. The enemy then grabbed my clone and threw it back at me. I then used the clone as a base so I could follow the enemy…"

Sasuke grabbed the hand that was furiously rubbing against Naruto's arm and held it in both of his own hands. He would not deny that he had always wondered just how aware Naruto was when he was being controlled. He had known that Naruto was not conscious since Naruto did not remember everything, but whenever Naruto would describe memories, it was always in a vague sense. Now, Sasuke knew just how disconnected he was from his consciousness, and that Naruto's thoughts were militaristic observations of how best to attack.

The Uchiha held his breath throughout the description. He remembered the event clearly. He ALSO remembered what happened _after_ their encounter… He did not know how he would handle having to listen to Naruto describe _THAT_… But he knew that he would stay close to his Naruto no matter what.

Sasuke would also not deny that it hurt to hear Naruto refer to Sasuke in the memory as 'the enemy'…

Naruto looked up at Sasuke from where he was sitting. Then, in a soft voice, different from the detached tone he had been using, Naruto said, "But then they grabbed my arms… and…and…." Naruto faced downwards at his lap, "And everything felt fuzzy. I… I felt like I was finally awake after sleeping for a long time… but at the same time, I was still dreaming. Then…the person who had my arms was holding me, and saying my name. It sounded like you, but… but everything was a dream, so it couldn't have been you. Your voice kept saying my name, and I could hear it. It was the only thing clear when everything else was fuzzy and not there. But then it was gone, and the person holding me was gone. The next thing I knew, I was on the ground, and needed to find you. Everything was still fuzzy and weird, but I knew that you could make it better if you were there… But then other voices kept making noise, and then things went dark."

Naruto looked up at Sasuke, and as soon as he did, Sasuke wrapped him in his arms.

"I'm here now," he whispered into Naruto's hair. What he would not give to have everything Naruto had gone through simply go away. Sasuke knew it was impossible, but in that moment, he just wanted to take all the pain away from his lover.

If there was some way that Sasuke could bear the pain and memories for Naruto, he would do it in less than a heartbeat. He would do anything for that last sentence Naruto had said to be true.

Naruto's arms wrapped around Sasuke's waist from where he was sitting, and their legs intertwined as he pulled Sasuke closer. Naruto's arms were shaking slightly.

"I'm sorry," Naruto whispered against Sasuke.

Sasuke's eyes widened. Then he—with a deliberately slow pace—untangled himself from his boyfriend and looked down at Naruto, who was also facing downwards.

The Uchiha then removed an arm from Naruto's back and used it to lift up the blonde's chin to make him face Sasuke. He was surprised and slightly horrified to see that Naruto was biting his lip and his expression was a few steps away from tearing up.

Sasuke's own expression was worried as he asked, "What could you possibly have to apologize for? None of this was your fault. You have _nothing_ to feel sorry about."

"But…" Naruto said softly, his eyes darting to the side and his eyebrows wrinkling in despair, "but I couldn't recognize you…"

Sasuke's expression softened at the sentiment. He bent his knees so he was slightly crouching so he could be face to face to Naruto while the other sat.

The Uchiha then cupped Naruto's cheeks with his hands, forcing the other to face him as he smiled and said, "It's alright. I understand. It was not your fault."

"But—" Naruto said, but was cut off by a quick peck on the lips by Sasuke.

"It was not your fault," Sasuke repeated with a smile.

Naruto frowned a little, and insisted, "I still need to apologize."

Sasuke removed his hands and stood up. "No, you do not have to apolo—"

He was cut off by Naruto abruptly standing up, knocking the chair over, and giving Sasuke a kiss on the lips.

Naruto had taken advantage of Sasuke's surprise and slipped his tongue into Sasuke's mouth. That snapped Sasuke back into reality, and he soon reciprocated the kiss.

When they pulled away from each other to catch their breath, Naruto was flushed red. Not that Sasuke minded, of course.

He knew that Naruto—while gaining new confidence as the kiss had shown—was still getting comfortable with the physical aspect of their relationship, and that there were legitimate reasons for the hesitancy. So Sasuke vowed to never pressure his boyfriend.

He decided to change the subject for Naruto and asked, "Is that all you remember?"

Naruto looked at him with a confused expression. "Eh?" he asked.

Sasuke asked again, "Is that all you remember?" then he clarified, "From the memory last night?"

Naruto squinted and started rubbing his chin, showing Sasuke that he was thinking. Sasuke almost smirked at this particular habit, but he was far too concerned with that he knew came after the memory of their first encounter when Naruto was being controlled.

The blonde continued waving his head side to side in his ministrations of visually showing his efforts to remember. Then he opened his eyes and smiled as he declared, "That's everything. After everything went dark, everything felt warm, you know? So I knew you were near. Then I had another dream. I was swimming in a giant bowl of ramen! But it wasn't really a bowl, it was the ocean! And then a giant sea monster came up, and tried to eat my ramen! So, naturally, I kicked its ass. But then I needed to wake it up because Akamaru was going to take a bath in the bowl of ramen!"

Sasuke smiled as Naruto continued to describe his dream. It put the Uchiha at ease to know that he _had_ helped his blonde from further nightmare of what happened after that particular memory by simply holding him. Sasuke made a mental note to do that more; something he already planned on doing since it seemed to be the only way to keep Naruto from moving all over the place in his sleep.

After Naruto had finished describing his dream, which apparently ended early because of Sasuke waking him up, Sasuke asked, "Are you ready to supervise me in my mission today?"

Naruto grinned at Sasuke and said, "You bet, bastard! I've been waiting ever since we were Genin!"

Sasuke held himself back from replying, and simply gestured for them to get changed so they could leave.

They both got changed into casual clothes since it was only going to be a D-rank mission, which they both knew were just everyday chores and errands around the village rather than the great escapades of danger they had envisioned as children.

Once they were out of the house, Sasuke linked their hands, to which Naruto responded by bumping their shoulders together and intertwining their fingers, making Sasuke almost smirk in public. It felt very nice to openly show that they were a couple and that Naruto was _Sasuke's_. The two walked together at a leisurely pace—they were not in any hurry—while Naruto chattered away about good memories of the missions they first had as Genin.

Sasuke would chime in occasionally, pointing out a flaw in Naruto's retellings that the blonde had conveniently missed, or reminding him about the times they had to start missions over because of how Naruto would get impatient, try some scheme to speed things up, and eventually have them fail. Naruto did not appreciate those reminders, and would frequently shove Sasuke in the shoulder with his own whenever the Uchiha brought up those particular happy memories.

Occasionally, a villager would wave at them, to which Naruto would enthusiastically return the favor, but the majority of the time, the couple was stuck in their own little world.

It was the happiest Sasuke had been since Naruto had declared them officially dating.

They reached the Hokage building, and stopped by the mission room for Sasuke to receive his orders. It had taken them a little while, since Naruto had dragged Sasuke from person to person, chatting with everyone he recognized in the room.

Most people just exchanged greetings, especially after being shooed off by a glare by the Uchiha when it looked like they were going to start a conversation. They all scampered away, muttering about needing to complete missions. Not that Naruto took particular notice; they _were_ in the mission room after all, and there were many people to talk with.

The only two that Sasuke refrained from glaring at were Tsunade and Iruka.

Naruto had spent a little time speaking with the Hokage, but ducked himself out when she brought up medical topics like another physical coming up soon. Naruto had assured her that he would not complain much when the time came, and the two shared an embrace—something Sasuke learned had become customary between the two since Naruto had stopped flipping out whenever he was touched—before saying words of departing.

The blonde had spent more time talking with Iruka, though. Naruto boasted extensively about his progress in his therapy, making sure that his old Sensei knew every detail of how much Naruto had pushed himself. Sasuke did not mind waiting for this, though, as Naruto positively glowed when Iruka praised him for his hard work. But then Naruto started to brag about being the one trusted to oversee Sasuke's mission today. He would occasionally squeeze Sasuke's hand affectionately, or playfully bump Sasuke's shoulder, though, making it bearable. Finally, Iruka pointed out that Sasuke had a mission to complete and that the couple should get going, making the elder an acceptable person in Sasuke's eyes.

Naruto had promised to get ramen sometime soon with the other, and then they both left, never once letting go of the other's hand.

When they had left the building, Naruto asked, "What were you assigned?"

With his free hand, Sasuke unraveled the scroll to read and Naruto grabbed the other end so they could both hold it up together. The mission was to water the plants in the medicinal green house.

Naruto was especially interested in this mission—much like Tsunade had promised—and was quickly dragging Sasuke to Konoha's medicinal greenhouse.

When they arrived, Naruto was positively bursting. People needed special permission to enter this green house, and it was the first time Naruto had been allowed in to stay longer than a quick showing by Sakura after Naruto's mission to save Gaara, according to the blonde. Naruto had said that the only other time he was allowed in was so that he could recognize the place and how to get there should there be an emergency like what happened with Gaara's brother and Naruto needed to lead the way.

Sasuke hardly cared about the backstory, but he _was_ pleased that he was the one who was able to give Naruto a reason to be here, as well as be the person Naruto shared the moment with. Plants were never Sasuke's thing, but his boyfriend absolutely adored them.

Sasuke's mission turned out to be more of Naruto's mission, as he was the one who ended up watering the plants. They both held water cans in the hands that were not clasped with each other's, but Naruto did the watering while he explained what each plant was and what it was used for. Sasuke gladly listened to Naruto's descriptions, and smiled at the extensive knowledge his boyfriend was displaying. He did not comment, but simply listened, and occasionally mentioned that he actually did not know this information before he was told just now; loving the way Naruto would glow with the pride of being the smart one.

When they were done, Naruto was smiling ear to ear, and even Sasuke was sporting himself a small smile of his own.

The time was half past two in the afternoon, since Naruto had taken so long describing each and every plant.

Sasuke suggested that they eat lunch in the village, to which Naruto immediately—and loudly—'suggested' that they eat at Ichiraku Ramen.

Because it was a day off for Naruto, Sasuke complied, and the two walked hand in hand to the small ramen shop that the blonde loved so much.

"Old Maaaan!" Naruto called out as they neared the shop.

"Ah, Naruto!" a girl's voice called back.

When the couple entered the shop, Sasuke saw that it was the shop owner's daughter who had greeted Naruto, and that the shop owner was coming in from the back.

"Naruto!" he greeted with a smile, "What can I get you?"

"The usual!" Naruto replied, beaming back at the two.

"Five miso ramen, comin' right up!" the shop owner replied, turning around and starting to make the meal.

"And for you?" the daughter asked Sasuke politely. She too had a smile.

"I will have what he's having," Sasuke answered, gesturing towards Naruto with his free hand. He figured that he would just eat one bowl of ramen while his boyfriend gorged himself on the other four, saving them both the hassle of ordering more.

The daughter nodded and smiled politely at Sasuke. Then her expression got playful when she turned to Naruto, though Sasuke noted that there was no trace of lust in her expression, so he allowed it.

"So Naruto," she asked, "were my eyes tricking me, or were you two holding hands when you came in?"

Naruto immediately flushed red, making the daughter laugh and Sasuke smirk. He then felt Naruto lift up their hands for the daughter to see, which Sasuke allowed. The girl squealed happily when she saw it, causing the shop owner to ask why she emitted such a sound.

"Because Naruto finally found someone special for him!" the daughter replied, smiling happily.

The shop owner turned around and saw their still raised hands held together. He too congratulated Naruto, and returned to his work. The daughter reminded him of Sasuke's order as well.

The daughter then proceeded to ask Naruto questions about his and Sasuke's relationship. Naruto flushed red, and answered them to the best of his ability, though Sasuke had to answer one or two questions due to Naruto being stunned into silence or being too flustered to answer.

Finally, their orders came through. Or at least, the first order. Sasuke was given one of Naruto's bowls since it was fairly obvious that _Sasuke_ was not going to eat more than one bowl.

The blonde was about to eat, when he noticed that they were holding hands again. Naruto's right hand was free, so that did not hinder him from eating, but Sasuke's right hand was not free as it was being held by Naruto. The blonde had suggested that they let go, but Sasuke declined. Sasuke was ambidextrous, having trained to be so in case his right hand was ever injured. He had thought of an idea where they feed each other ramen, but the way Naruto practically inhaled the food, it would be impossible. Besides, there were other people present, and Sasuke wanted that experience to be special and personal; meaning alone in their home.

Naruto happily slurped away at his ramen, exclaiming that its tastes rivaled heaven, while Sasuke slowly ate his lunch. The blonde chatted happily with the daughter between bowls, but was mostly silent save for moans of ecstasy that Sasuke ignored since they were in public and because of his earlier vow.

Sasuke had finished his bowl by the time Naruto had finished his eighth bowl, and in a way, the Uchiha was proud of himself. He had gotten to the point where he could stand ramen enough to eat it before Naruto finished bowl of their orders.

"C'mon, Old Man! Gimme the last one!" Naruto demanded loudly.

"Here you go, buy you should wait a minute for it to cool off," the owner warned.

His warning was made in vain as Naruto had immediately slurped the bowl.

"AH! HOT!" Naruto shouted, dangling his tongue out of his mouth.

"That's what you get for being an idiot," Sasuke deadpanned, handing his boyfriend a glass of water. He then gestured for the daughter to give Naruto a second glass, as half of the bowl's contents were not eaten yet.

"'OH' 'AH' 'EE AH' I'EE'O" Naruto shouted without the use of his tongue.

Then Naruto grabbed the bowl again and slurped up the remaining contents.

"I will call you an idiot all I want, seeing as you are one," Sasuke rolled his eyes.

Naruto ignored him in favor of gulping down the second glass of water and helplessly miming for more. It took about five glasses of water before Naruto could speak normally again.

"Ahhhhh, that hit the spot," Naruto moaned happily as he patted his belly with his free hand.

The daughter giggled, "Maybe next time, you should wait for the ramen to cool a bit."

"No way!" Naruto exclaimed, "Then I would be wasting precious ramen time!"

Sasuke had accepted long ago that he would never understand Naruto's logic when it came to the blonde's favorite food, so he did not comment.

Still patting his belly and swinging their linked hands slightly, Naruto called out, "Hey, Old Man! I haven't talked to you much yet. Anything new happening?"

"Well," the owner looked slightly unsettled, "I held off on mentioning it earlier, but a couple of ninja who work in the prison were talking earlier."

The owner fell silent, and even the daughter seemed a bit on edge. Sasuke was interested in whatever the owner had to say if he thought it important enough for Naruto to hear. His boyfriend _was_ the village hero, so the owner probably assumed that someone of Naruto's merit was needed to handle whatever the earlier ninja were talking about.

Naruto was seemingly oblivious to the owner and his daughter's expressions or mood as he squinted his eyes and loudly demanded, "Well? What did they say?"

The owner glanced at his daughter, and Sasuke noted how her expression fell as she gave a near indiscernible nod, apparently goading the owner into speaking.

He gave a small nod back before turning to Naruto with a worried expression.

"Your old teammate Sai was broken out of prison," he said.

Naruto's eyes widened and he dropped Sasuke's hand.

* * *

Naruto's head was spinning. He was going crazy; insane. He was clearly having audio hallucinations.

It was the only explanation after all. It was simple, really: Naruto was going crazy.

There was no way that he had heard what he had thought he had heard.

"What?" he asked, his voice coming out as more of a squeak. But that did not matter, because Naruto was going crazy and hearing insane lies.

Old Man Teuchi's worried expression grew. Maybe it was a full on visual _AND_ audio hallucination. Cool. That made more sense anyway, since Naruto was going crazy.

"Your old teammate, the one who you went on that long mission with and had left you to get severely beaten like that? Those ninja said that he was broken out of prison. They said that they thought it was an outside job as the lock wasn't picked or anything, but they could not figure out who would help him since he let you get injured like that," Old Man Teuchi said, Ayame nodding along.

"When we heard, we thought it would be best to tell you." Ayame chimed in, "I know we shouldn't have been listening in on their conversation, and I know that we don't know the circumstances of your long mission, but we don't want you to accidentally run into him unprepared."

That wouldn't be a problem since Naruto was going crazy, and therefore had nothing to worry about.

Oh no… Naruto clutched his head.

As soon as _HIS_ name was mentioned, memories started swarming through Naruto's brain.

He saw _HIM_ standing in front of him. He saw _HIM_ running alongside him. He saw _HIM_ smiling at him. He saw _HIM_ painting a tree for him.

NARUTO SAW _HIM_ TAKING OFF THEIR CLOTHES. NARUTO SAW _HIM_ LEANING IN FOR A KISS. NARUTO SAW _HIM_ LAYING NARUTO ON THE FLOOR. NARUTO SAW _HIM_ GRABBING A BOTTLE AND SQUITING SOMETHING ONTO HIS HAND. HE SAW—HE SAW—

Naruto bit the inside of his cheek hard enough to draw blood. He was still clutching his head, but someone else was holding him as well.

"Thank you, but we need to leave," Sasuke's curt voice sounded from next to him.

"Of course," Old Man Teuchi replied.

"I will pay for this later, but now I need to take him home," Naruto heard Sasuke say.

"It's on the house, and we're sorry if we did something wrong," Old Man Teuchi sounded remorseful.

"No, it was the right thing to tell us," said Sasuke's voice.

Naruto the felt Sasuke guide him into a standing position; or attempt to as Naruto slumped against him, half sitting on the stool.

"Sa-Sasuke?" Naruto stammered, not wanting to open his eyes.

"I'm here, Naruto, I'm here," Sasuke whispered urgently into Naruto's ear.

"Make it stop!" Naruto whispered back. He could practically FEEL the memories trying to bombard his brain.

But Sasuke could make them go away, right? Sasuke made them go away when Naruto was in the hospital! Sasuke could make them go away. Sasuke could make them go away. Sasuke could make them GO AWAY!

Naruto whimpered as his head started to hurt.

He felt Sasuke's arms wrap around his torso, and a hand press Naruto's head down against Sasuke's shoulder. "I'm going to pick you up so we can go home faster," he whispered.

Naruto shook his head, and groaned when the action hurt even more than letting his head stay still. "I…I'm not a g-girl, bas-st-ba-bastard!" Naruto hissed lowly.

Sasuke nodded against Naruto's head. Then he helped Naruto stand up.

Though he hated to admit it, Naruto actually needed Sasuke's help to stand up; his legs were shaking slightly too much to support his whole weight, and his head felt like it wanted to explode.

Naruto tried to take one step forwards, but fell. His legs would not work properly!

He then felt his legs being pulled out from under him and his back being tilted backwards as he found himself being carried as Sasuke ran.

"Bastard!" Naruto shouted before wincing as it hurt his head. He clutched it harder and called, "I told you I'm not a girl!" He winced again, but he needed to say it! And he _needed_ it to be heard, his head be damned!

No, head NOT be damned. Damn it, it hurt! Naruto promised not to shout anymore of that would appease his headache.

"You can barely stand, and your head is pounding. BELIEVE me, if I could carry you over my shoulder, I would, but you are in no condition to," Sasuke's voice sounded from above him.

"Bastard," he whispered to himself. He would have shouted, but his head hurt too much, and just this once, Sasuke was making sense.

Soon enough, Naruto felt himself being lowered onto the ground. He cracked an eye open and saw that they were on their back porch.

"I'll get the key," Sasuke said quietly, letting go of Naruto.

But once he did, Naruto's head exploded in a bout of pain, making him cry out.

He saw _HIM_ gesturing towards an enemy location. He saw _HIM_ pull out _HIS_ paintbrush and scroll used for jutsus. He saw—

Sasuke. He saw Sasuke.

Sasuke was in front of him, holding onto either side of Naruto's head.

"Does that help?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto whimpered and threw himself into Sasuke's arms, not caring how weak or girly he looked because DAMMIT EVERYTHING HURT!

"Make it go away!" Naruto begged against Sasuke's shoulder. He looked up, tears falling freely since Naruto did not have the strength to hold them back.

Sasuke's eyes were full of grief and pain, but he was able to keep himself from crying.

For some reason, that made Naruto cry even harder. He buried his head against Sasuke's shoulder again, gripping the black shirt as he sobbed. His head hurt _so much_, and the images would not go away! The worst part was that Naruto knew that they were not a part of his imagination but a part of his memory; even…_especially_ the part where a shirtless _HIM_ was reaching for the bottle.

He did not know how long he sobbed against Sasuke's shoulder, or how long Sasuke rubbed his back silently, but it took too long, and did not end soon enough.

Naruto wiped the fluids off his face onto Sasuke's already dampened shirt, not caring in the slightest how gross it was, and asked, "I thought…I thought he was supposed to be locked up…" He hated how his voice cracked.

"He was," Sasuke answered immediately in a soft voice, but Naruto could still hear the anger. Naruto shifted so that his body was laying on the ground, but his upper torso and his head was in Sasuke's lap. He needed to be close to Sasuke, for more than a few reasons, but his head hurt even more from the crying and he needed to be horizontal.

"What…" Naruto stopped in order to think about how he would phrase the question. "What does the village know? …Old Man Teuchi said something about injuries?"

Sasuke bent his own torso down so that his head was touching Naruto's head. It must have been a somewhat painful strain for Sasuke's back, but Naruto didn't want him to move away.

"The village has no idea what really happened," Sasuke whispered, "They believe that you and that…_team_," he practically spat the word, "went on a two year long mission, where they would mistreat you because of the Kyuubi."

Naruto flinched slightly. It was probably easy for the villagers to believe that lie because some still considered him a demon.

Sasuke bent lower to kiss Naruto's head before returning to his previous position and continued whispering, "The villagers believe that at the end of your mission, you were ambushed, and the rest of the…_team_…left you to save themselves. They are regarded worse than scum in the village now, and _HE_ is the most despised out of all of them for allowing it."

"Those who don't follow the rules are scum, but those who abandon their friends are worse than scum," Naruto whispered, repeating the words their sensei had said to them years ago.

But remembering what Kakashi had said opened another floodgate of memories.

Naruto saw _HIM_ introduce himself. He saw _HIM_ giving that fake smile. He saw himself making a clone of _HIM_. He saw _HIM_ teasing him. He saw _HIM_ looking at wonder at the book Naruto had given back to _HIM_. He saw _HIM_ give his first smile…

"GAH!" Naruto shouted, clutching his head again, accidentally punching Sasuke's jaw along the way.

"NARUTO?! WHAT'S WRONG?" Sasuke shouted, desperation in his voice.

"IT…IT'S NOT STOPPING!" Naruto replied, curling into himself into a fetal position.

He saw _HIM_ walking with him. He saw _HIM_ sitting next to him in the dark. He saw _HIM_ placing an arm around him. He saw _HIM_ holding up a book with a confused expression. He saw _HIM_ with an arm injury. He saw _HIM_ rushing with everyone else to help in the forest. He saw _HIM_ shyly asking to be called friends…

"Make…make it stop!" Naruto pleaded. He didn't want any more memories!

He saw _HIM_ place a painted pictures of beautiful sceneries in front of him. He FELT _HIM_ hugging him from behind. He FELT _HIM_ pulling him into _HIS_ lap! HE FELT _HIM_ KISSING HIM. HE FELT _HIM_ TAKE OFF HIS CLOTHES! HE FELT _HIM_ KISSING LOWER…

"STOP!" Naruto shouted helplessly. He had resorted to physically punching his head. Maybe that would make it stop!

HE SAW _HIM_ REACH FOR THE BOTTLE!

Naruto cried out again and lifted his head high enough to slam it onto the porch. _It needed to stop!_

"Naruto!" Sasuke called out, but Naruto didn't care. He just wanted it to stop!

He felt Sasuke pulling Naruto into his lap, and Naruto began to sob once more.

"Naruto! Naruto, look at me!" Sasuke ordered.

Naruto shook his head desperately. He couldn't look at Sasuke. He just couldn't. Not after what he had seen. What he had allowed to happen! He didn't deserve someone like Sasuke…

He broke into a new bout of tears, and was helpless to stop it. He was so damn _weak_ and _pathetic_.

Naruto felt two hands cup his cheeks and force him to face upwards.

"Naruto," Sasuke's voice pleaded, it hurt to hear Sasuke's voice so desperate, "please look at me. Please."

Naruto did as he was asked, because he could not bear to listen to SASUKE sound so miserable because of someone worthless like NARUTO. He looked upwards at blurry shapes and saw blurry red.

Then he saw nothing.

Everything was dark. And everything was _quiet_.

His head didn't hurt. In fact, it felt like it was being supported by cool, calming water.

**Naruto.**

Naruto turned his head sluggishly towards the sound of his name being called by Kurama. How did Kurama say his name, anyway?

Then Naruto saw Kurama beside him, or at least his giant paw.

Kurama lifted Naruto up, and surprisingly it did not hurt, and placed him on one of his fluffy tails.

Naruto sighed, a lofty smile on his face. Kurama's tails were the comfiest. They should figure out how to make a bed that was at least HALF as comfortably, because then Naruto would be in bed heaven.

He would have been happy just to lie on Kurama's tails all day and all night and never have to wake up. His head had stopped hurting, and the images had stopped!

Then he heard splashing. It was distant, but it was coming closer.

Kurama growled, and shifted so that Its body was facing the direction where the splashing was coming from. But Naruto did not care, because Kurama had curled another tail around Naruto to keep him in place as It moved, so Naruto was surrounded by fluffy heaven.

The Demon made to remove Its second tail after It had finished moving, but Naruto held on tight. Kurama turned Its giant head back to look at Naruto, but the blonde just lightly smiled, waved back, and held as much of the tail as he could between his arms, refusing to let go.

Kurama sniffed out of Its snout, but seemingly allowed Naruto to hold onto the tail as It turned Its head back around. Naruto smiled. Fluffy heaven.

"Naruto!"

Naruto looked up to look for where Sasuke's voice had come from, but the back of his Demon was in the way.

He feebly called out, "Sasuk—"

**Uchiha.** Kurama cut Naruto off.

The blonde did not fight Kurama on the matter. He was in fluffy heaven, and he trusted Kurama to relay all the important information between the two lovers. After all, Kurama had made all the pain go away.

"Where is Naruto?" Sasuke asked.

**He is safe.** Kurama said, and Naruto agreed. There was no safer place than between the Demon's tails.

"Can I see him?" Sasuke asked. Naruto noted that he sounded pretty polite. Kurama should listen to him.

Kurama paused for a moment. Naruto tugged on one of Kurama's tails, making the Demon look back at him.

"It's okay, Kyuubi," Naruto referred to Kurama by the preferred name for when addressing him in front of other people. The Demon was proud of Its true name, and would not let any insignificant human know of it.

Kurama growled a little, letting Naruto know that his decision was against the Demon's best judgment, but Naruto tugged on the tail again. Finally Naruto was secured between the two tails and was moved so that when the second tail was lifted, Naruto was next to Kurama and facing Sasuke.

"Hey, Sasuke," Naruto called out languidly. He did not have the energy to stand up.

Sasuke's face flooded with relief when he saw Naruto. Why, though? Naruto was with Kurama, who made the pain go away.

"Are you feeling better?" Sasuke asked in a gentle tone.

Naruto nodded, "It went away," he explained simply.

Sasuke smiled his small but sincere smile at Naruto, before returning his features to his usual stoic expression and asked Kurama, "Is it permanent? When he gets back, he will not have any more headaches or have any more unwanted memories?"

Kurama shook Its large head. **This is temporary. That whelp escaping Its prison has put extra stress on Naruto. I can keep this affect for a small amount of time, but that Hokage brat will need to give you a larger dose of medication from before.**

Sasuke nodded, but then asked, "Will the remaining medication we have be enough?"

Kurama shook Its large head again, **The medication you two have in your home will be insufficient. The Hokage brat used different medication after Naruto first recovered which would be suffice.**

"Hey, 'm still here," Naruto slurred from his spot in fluffy heaven.

Kurama wrapped a tail over his legs in response. It felt amazing. Fluffy heaven.

**Leave.** Kurama ordered Sasuke. It growled, so Sasuke must have hesitated.

Naruto waved an arm and smiled at Sasuke, "Listen to Kyuubi. I'll be fine." It was true. After all, Kurama made the pain go away; and fluffy heaven.

Sasuke nodded, then closed his eyes. Then poof, he vanished, but without the poof.

Naruto was still in fluffy heaven. He loved it, but there must have been a reason, so he looked up.

**Naruto,** Kurama said, **There is a limited amount of time that I will be able to suspend the pain and repress the memories, so you must tell your Uchiha to move quickly.**

"Heh, _my_ Uchiha," Naruto smiled widely up at Kurama. Not feeling pain was great. Not seeing _HIS_ face was great. Kurama's tails were great. Sasuke being Naruto's Uchiha was great. Everything was great.

**You will also be vulnerable like this as I have suspended both of our chakra,** Kurama warned.

"It's cool, 'Rama. Sasuke will protect us," Naruto said with confidence. After all he didn't need to worry. Kurama made the pain go away. Fluffy heaven. Sasuke was Naruto's Uchiha.

Kurama growled softly, but Naruto was smart enough to ad, "But no one can take Kurama down. You could beat up anyone with your tails tied behind your back. You'd give 'em the WHAM! BAM!"

Kurama sniffed down at him, but Naruto chose to assume that it was in an amused way.

Naruto opened his eyes and found himself staring back up at black eyes. He smiled and crooned, "_My_ Uchiha."

Sasuke's expression ghosted a smile, but there was too much worry for it to spread across his face.

That would not do. So Naruto reached upwards and FORCED Sasuke's face to smile! "Mine!" Naruto said happily, adding his own smile to the mix.

When Naruto let go, Sasuke had a real, small but real, smile on his face.

"That's better," Naruto whispered. Then he opened his eyes wide and said, "Kur—KYUUBI said that you need to leave now! He can't keep the pain away for too long!"

Sasuke nodded, then moved to pick Naruto up.

"What are you doing?" Naruto asked. Didn't Sasuke hear? Kurama said _now_!

"Moving you inside!" said Sasuke.

"No time," Naruto argued, trying to wiggle out of Sasuke's hold. Wiggle was a funny word. It rhymed with giggle.

But Sasuke was not giggling when he looked down at Naruto seriously and said, "I'm not leaving you outside."

Naruto nodded, then ordered, "Couch," since there would be no time to set up the futon they had put away after getting dressed.

Sasuke nodded and picked Naruto up, walking through the opened back door. Sasuke must have opened it while Naruto was still talking to Kurama.

Once Naruto was set down on the couch, Naruto ordered, "Shirt!"

Sasuke stared at him in his own Uchiha form of confusion.

Naruto repeated, "Shirt! It's bright, and I want to smeeeeeell you," and he ended up giggling, which rhymed with wiggling.

The blonde could swear that he saw another smile on Sasuke's face before it was hidden by Sasuke removing his shirt. Then Naruto was preoccupied with staring at his boyfriend's bare chest. Damn. He sure picked the best one in all of Konoha. Go Naruto!

Then Naruto's face met Sasuke's shirt. It took more than one second, but Naruto removed it from his face and smiled, "My Uchiha!"

Sasuke smiled a _real_ smile and leaned down, "Your Uchiha," he agreed, placing a kiss on Naruto's lips.

Naruto returned the favor quickly before pushing him up and saying, "Kyuubi said hurry. 'M all vulnerable and no chakra. Pain soooooon, too, so now!"

Sasuke nodded. He was about to turn to leave, but Naruto grabbed his hand and said, "I wuuuuuuv you," with a smile.

Sasuke returned the smile and said, "I love you too." Then he turned and left through the back door.

As soon as Sasuke left, Naruto immediately placed Sasuke's shirt onto his face again. It smelled like Sasuke, and it was dark, like earlier with Kurama.

It was not fluffy heaven, but it had Sasuke, so it was just as good. It was great. Everything was great.

Time passed by, but Naruto did not mind.

The pain in his head was gone. _HIS_ face was gone. Sasuke was coming back soon. Sasuke's shirt was on his face.

It was great.

Everything was great.

Naruto heard the back door click, indicating that the door was unlocked.

"Hi hiiiiiii," Naruto called. He should be polite.

Sasuke was polite earlier with Kurama, so Naruto should be polite now.

He heard footsteps coming closer, and Naruto briefly wondered if Sasuke had brought Tsunade.

No, there were only Sasuke's footsteps. But he did not say 'hi' back. That was not polite. So Sasuke would not get his shirt back until he was polite.

Suddenly, the shirt was pulled off.

Naruto looked up to smile at Sasuke and tell him he was being rude.

His smile fell.

It was not Sasuke.

It was _SAI_!

"Hello, my love," said Sai.

"N-MMPH!" Naruto shouted before Sai pushed his hand against Naruto's forehead.

Everything was dark. Everything was not great.

* * *

**And that was the chapter!**

**That was actually TWO chapters, as an apology for making you wait for so long. My notes said that Chapter 9 ended at Teuchi saying Sai broke out of prison, but I didn't want to leave you with TWO cliffhangers, so I added chapter 10 into this.**

**Completely unrelated, but something that has been bothering me about recent AU stories—and most stories nowadays are AU, but I don't really mind that—is a small trend of adding English names for OCs (mostly backgound characters at least). For some STRANGE reason, and maybe it is just me, but that irritates the hell outa me! Not even for adding OCs, but purely for the name not being Japanese. It's like, there's the group, Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi, Gaara, Shikamaru, Ino, Chouji, Kiba, Hinata, Shino, Neji, TenTen, Lee, and then Matt. Or Lisa. Or Ed. Or Blake, or whatever the hell American, English, Canadian, Australian, and other names like that. I would not have a problem if the nationalities were specifically mentioned, like Blake is from America and visiting America. But in most AUs like that, our characters from Naruto live in an undescribed location, in some vague country, with vague nationalities. Our Naruto characters meet by chance, or already know each other but where they live, their names are totally normal. Then Blake. Or Matt, or Lisa, or Ed. What the hell, man? Is it just me? Sorry, I did not sleep all night, and I am kind of close to the 24 hour mark on no sleep.**

**Anyhoo, thank you to those who favorite/subscribe to this story! And a special thanks to those of you who review! The extra chapter was added for you!**


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